From Meditations...2.1 :
"When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I will deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly. They are like this because they can't tell good from evil."
How's that for an opener?
One week in, and well...I feel pretty good about it. One of the first exercises I followed in Stoic Spiritual Exercises, by Elen Buzare, was to read Marcus Aurelius's Meditiations. Or more uniquely, the author recommends one read chapters 2.1 (partial above), 2.6, 4.3, 4.26, 7.22, 8.21, 11.18, 12.7, 12.8, and 12.26 of Meditations isolate repeated messages communicated by Aurelius. Then, after reading the passages, write down one's interpretation of his message. I've done this exercise every morning and evening this week, and I wanted to share my interpretation of his Stoic message. Here it is:
- One's identity and soul should not be defined by the opinion of others
- You can not control external factors; you can only react to external factors accordingly
- You can only control internal factors and how you interpret external factors
- Your life is but a brief, one moment in context to a vast, uncaring universe
- You only have one life to live...don't waste it worrying about the opinions of others
- The Earth is but a speck in time and the universe - I am too
- Death is definite and eventual - do not fear or have anxiety about the nature of death
I truly appreciate the Stoic idea that "others" and their "opinions" about me is irrelevant. How often to I worry about what others think of me? That I need to please everyone? Sadly, all of the time! What a bane to the mind (or as Marcus would say, to the "soul".) There is defintiely some truth to it.
Some positive things I managed to meet this week:
- Morning hikes every day this
- Journaling every day and following through with goals and reflections (if interested, I'll share the journal I'm currently using)
- No beers at night (historically, I like to have a few after stressful days)
- Attempting to be positive at work (sort of worked...sort of)
On a minimalist side of things, I also gave away a few pint glasses and coffee mugs I've accumulated over the years. Our cabinet was beginning to get cluttered...I helped declutter that space. Honestly, it felt great...maybe more decluttering to come.
What I have struggled with, however, is the opinion of others. I still feel the need to want to please others...it is something I have always struggled with. If I live in the moment, however, I think I have a chance at changing that internal perspective.
Week one in the books...and more to come. I'm just happy I actually followed through with something regarding this newly inspired "Great Work." Thanks for reading, and please share any thoughts/comments below. And, have a great weekend, everyone.