[stonemetal12]

>Reminding yourself of everything you could lose drives some appreciation for what you have, whatever it is.

Does that actually work for some people? Thinking about loss usually gives me a dragon like need to hoard, and guard the hoard.

[refurb]

My phrasing was poor. And again, I’m not a “stoicism is the answer” type person, I’ve just noticed an overlap of my own thoughts and what stoicism offers.

It’s not so much reminding yourself of everything you could lose. It’s more like “hey my friends wife’s got cancer and might die from it”.

Instead of saying “I feel bad for them and lucky it wasn’t me” the thought is “that could have just as easily been me” and “that could be me next year”.

It’s the realization that you’re not special. All the maladies that afflict your peers could just as easily afflict you.

That attitude definitely helps to clarify priorities. When you partner says “let’s go out for breakfast” instead of saying “we can do that another day, I have a meeting”, you decide to go because who knows what tomorrow brings?

[jdavis703]

Yes, but I think it’s wrong to think of it in terms of material loss — thinking what would happen if you lost your 401(k) balance isn’t going to make you happier. But thinking what would happen if you lost your important relationships or material things that bring you particular joy (a house, a car, an espresso machine, etc).