XVIII. The Direct Challenge

Seneca turns directly to Paulinus and asks him to step away from public service and toward a life of his own.

You have been running the food supply of Rome, keeping millions of people fed. You have given years of your life to it. The work is important. Your courage and your skill have been proved many times over. No one questions your dedication.

Now stop.

Not stop working entirely. Stop giving the best of yourself to something that can be done by many people, and start giving the best of yourself to the work that only you can do. The work of building a life that is yours. The work of understanding. The work of becoming who you are.

You have more than enough years behind you to know that the work never ends. There will always be another task, another crisis, another reason the timing is not quite right. If you wait for the work to release you, it will not.

You have to release it.