Seneca: Nature gave him to you, as she gives others to…

Love is not ownership. We speak of my partner, my child, my friend, my parents, and the language is natural—but it can quietly become a claim that they belong to us permanently. Seneca asks us to remember that every relationship is a gift with an unknown expiration date. That is not a reason to hold people at a distance. It is a reason to be more present while they are here. We do not get to decide when we have loved someone enough, when the conversation is finished, or when life may take a new turn. Resenting that fact is understandable; changing it is impossible. Gratitude is the healthier response. Send the message you keep postponing. Put down the phone during dinner. Stop saving tenderness for a future occasion. You are not owed unlimited time with anyone, and neither are they with you. Treat today’s ordinary contact as the fragile privilege it is.