I need to get my shit together. I use that particular phrase because I've just been introduced to Get Your Shit Together dot org. GYST is a life and death planning site that encourages people to prepare for the fact that you are going to die. Do you have a Will? A Living Will? Life insurance? Does your significant other know the passwords to important websites? There's a lot to cover. GYST is there to point out that preparation for death involves a fair amount of paperwork.
As a stoic, I'm also supposed to be preparing for death with my mind. To us, death is part of nature and nothing that is natural should be unexpected. Therefore we prepare ourselves for change. We use negative visualization to rehearse loss. As Seneca said, "We live in the middle of things which have all been destined to die. Mortal have you been born, to mortals have you given birth." Personally, I find this rehearsal very calming. Yet, for all the time spent thinking about endings, I have done very little to prepare for my own.
Get Your Shit Together gives me a chance to take a stoic spiritual practice and apply it to paperwork. I can take the steps necessary to alleviate the stress on my wife if an accident were to happen or illness suddenly struck me. I'm issuing a challenge to myself, one that I believe would benefit any practicing stoic. I'm going to get my shit together this year. After all, it's the stoic thing to do.
