If you read Meditations by Marcus Aurelius then you will discover timeless wisdom that you can use to navigate life in the present day. This book gives you a feel of how Stoicism transcends time and you get to learn how to navigate stressful circumstances.
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As humans, we tend to overthink everything and try as much as possible to control all of the outcomes of our lives. But Marcus teaches us how to make ourselves live with some level of personal attachment and to understand that there will always be things that we cannot control. When we make peace with this realization, it will be easy to find inner peace no matter the unpredictability that occurs around us.
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One of the things you will learn that you can't control is the behavior of your fellow human. Aurelius will make you see that even though you try to be nice to your fellow human it doesn't really mean they will warm up to you and like you back. And if they do, you should accept it, and if they don't, then it's pointless to think that any of their attitudes had anything to do with you.
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In fact, reading this part about dealing with people helped me to dive deeper into the wisdom of Robert Greene in his book, The Art of Seduction. There's the Chapter on Anti-Seducers and how these folks are mostly self-absorbed and cannot understand the psychology of another person. So they tend to have behaviors that repel the next human.
If I wanted to string the lessons there and that of Marcus, then, I would say, both authors are right because Marcus is already telling us not to wear ourselves out over the outcome of human nature and Robert taught me to not ever be self-absorbed so much that I feel the attitude of the next human towards me has anything to do with me.
Marcus is helping by reminding me that it doesn't, and Robert had already told me, even the mere thought that my neighbor's attitude towards me has anything to do with me, will make me an anti-seducer. So all I needed to learn was how to step out of myself and my insecurities and not take anything personally.
Marcus had gone on to teach us to stop being anxious about life. This is because there are little things that we can and cannot change. And so we need to learn to let go and find contentment in our actions. This part reminded me of the scripture when Jesus taught us to never worry about tomorrow because tomorrow will take care of itself. Why? This is because just as the Lord feeds the birds of the air, he will definitely take care of us.
There are things that we can't control, and these things should be the least of our worries. We can eat well, and exercise well, but still be diagnosed with one foreign illness, so the future is not ours to predict. Although we can do our best to plan for it, if it doesn't turn out as planned, then we shouldn't try to blame nature.
Another thing you will learn from Aurelius is that fame is irrelevant and insignificant as compared to living a life of purpose. We shouldn't be worked up about getting famous instead we should focus on making the part of the planet that's allocated to us beautiful. By doing things not to become famous but to share love and passion as we show genuine interest in them and find Joy in the process.
Just as explained above, you can decide to stop fretting over things that happened out of your control. And concentrate on controlling your mind, thoughts, and attitude. The heart is said to be desperately wicked by the scripture so instead of trying to change things that are out of your control, try feeding your mind with kindness, goodwill, and resilience in the face of adversity instead.
Life will always give us trials whether it's in the form of a nosy/annoying neighbor, debt, illnesses, or a challenging experience at work, what you'll learn from the mediation of Marcus Aurelius will give you a leg up when dealing with anything life brings to you.
You will need to learn to make peace with your circumstances and stop judging the universe. You will refrain from staying in bed all day mopping about your heartbreaks and take charge of your life. You will try to embrace positivity and focus your energy on what truly matters instead of trivial pursuits.
This will help you understand that you alone have the power to make yourself happy and it starts from taking control of your mind and your attitude towards circumstances as this is the only things in life that is within your control.
Finally, you should understand that life is too short to be wasted on mundane things so take the role of fulfilling purpose seriously.
The Mediation has twelve (12) chapters and was written by Marcus Aurelius, an Emperor who ruled the Rome Empire from 161 to 180 AD. It was never intended for publication, it was mostly his medication which he used as spiritual exercises for his personal guidance and self-improvement. And the writing takes the form of quotations from one sentence to long paragraphs. Some of the genres of the book include Nonfiction, Personal Memoirs, History, Psychology, Self-help, Philosophy, Humanism, etc.