III. The First Remedy: Useful Work

Seneca begins prescribing. The first remedy is to have something real to do.

My teacher Athenodorus used to say: the best thing is to be occupied with real work, the business of citizenship, of serving your community, of being useful.

Just as athletes spend their time training the muscles they will need in competition, anyone who wants to live well should spend their time on things that genuinely matter. Nothing is more useful, nothing more honorable, than being engaged in work that is real.

Athenodorus also admitted something important: sometimes it is not safe to be fully engaged in public life. Ambition corrupts everything around it. There are more things that push you off the right path than help you stay on it. In that case, pull back, but slowly, not by throwing down your weapons and running.

Even in retirement, you can still serve. The person who cannot hold public office can teach. The person who cannot argue in court can counsel privately. The person who is forbidden to speak can guide with silence and example. A soldier who guards the gate still serves the army. A soldier whose hands have been cut off can still stand firm and encourage the men beside him.

There is always something to do. The question is whether you are willing to do it in whatever form is available to you, rather than insisting that it come in the exact form you prefer.