“When one is busy and absorbed in one’s work, the very absorption affords great delight; but when one has withdrawn one’s hand from the completed masterpiece, the pleasure is not so keen.” – Seneca

As humans, we are happiest when we are operating within the moment. When we are so engrossed in a subject that we lose track of time, we forget to eat, we don’t even realize that we’ve had to pee for an hour until we take a short break and have to do a run-dance combo to the bathroom, that is when we are the most content. When we finish a project, when are done reading a book, when we have to leave a job, we feel a sadness, a break as if a part of our lives is over. And it is.

We would do ourselves a favor to pay attention to that feeling, to use it to identify the areas of a project, a book, or a job that we are going to miss the most. And we can use this knowledge to guide us towards our next move.

If we use this method a few times we will find ourselves reading things we truly enjoy, working on projects that bring us immense satisfaction, and possibly even a career we never really want to retire from.

And that would be a life well built.

virtus fortis vocat

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