The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 30
November 11th - It's Not The Thing, It's What We Make Of It
"When you are distressed by an external thing, it's not the thing itself that troubles you, but only your judgement of it. And you can wipe this out at a moments notice."
-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.47
Excerpts from Author:
"Franklin Delano Roosevelt, now widely regarded as one of America's greatest political leaders was, in middle age, diagnosed with polio after spending years preparing for and dreaming about the presidency.
It's impossible to understand FDR without understanding this disability. The "external thing" was that he was crippled - this was a literal fact - but his judgement of it was that it did not cripple his career or his personhood. Though he was certainly the victim of a then incurable disease, he wiped away - almost immediately - the victim's mentality.
Let's not confuse acceptance with passivity."
I've talked about external factors, and most people describe them as 'happening to them'. In this case I would admit polio happened upon FDR, but most things that can be described as negative, which may be allowed to affect ones outlook on life, or to sully their day, doesn't 'happen to them'. It happens, and we take it on board, and allow it to affect us, rather than let it be an outside factor that does not have to sour us.
Things happen, and our opinion of it is all that we can control, it's all that we have. Why would you bemoan, constantly, things that feel like setbacks, incidents that cost or waste time, when we could rather use our energy to strive onwards, look at the bigger picture, see it for a tiny blip that likely won't matter in a day, month, 5 years.
Tying this into another aspect of the universe - 'where thoughts go, energy flows.' What you focus on, you attract, and over-thinking, worrying, or complaining about certain things that are happening doesn't make your situation any better - you may just appear as a victim - and in many cases, worrying is just putting yourself though an impending horrible situation twice. Why would you do that to yourself?
I had a housemate who would get very serious when I described myself or someone else as "Happy-go-lucky", because it's such a rare attribute to a person, and that it's not a term to 'throw around' as it were. But I really think that people who can differentiate themselves from the things happening, and focusing on the silver lining, or considering everything to be a real gift for growth, to be exactly this kind of person. I even consider myself to be somewhat happy-go-lucky. Many things tend to work out for me, theres no resistance, opportunities pop up and sometimes I'm wise enough to recognise them.
Shevacai
npub19u…wgppv
2023-11-11 13:26:24
Author Public Key
npub19ut4lep53ax69ks406zdzxd4zewgg4v3trnyw20lqzck89r33wls3wgppvPublished at
2023-11-11 13:26:24Event JSON
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"content": "The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living\n\nDay 30\n\nNovember 11th - It's Not The Thing, It's What We Make Of It\n\n\"When you are distressed by an external thing, it's not the thing itself that troubles you, but only your judgement of it. And you can wipe this out at a moments notice.\"\n\n-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.47\n\nExcerpts from Author:\n\n\"Franklin Delano Roosevelt, now widely regarded as one of America's greatest political leaders was, in middle age, diagnosed with polio after spending years preparing for and dreaming about the presidency.\nIt's impossible to understand FDR without understanding this disability. The \"external thing\" was that he was crippled - this was a literal fact - but his judgement of it was that it did not cripple his career or his personhood. Though he was certainly the victim of a then incurable disease, he wiped away - almost immediately - the victim's mentality. \n\nLet's not confuse acceptance with passivity.\"\n\nI've talked about external factors, and most people describe them as 'happening to them'. In this case I would admit polio happened upon FDR, but most things that can be described as negative, which may be allowed to affect ones outlook on life, or to sully their day, doesn't 'happen to them'. It happens, and we take it on board, and allow it to affect us, rather than let it be an outside factor that does not have to sour us. \n\nThings happen, and our opinion of it is all that we can control, it's all that we have. Why would you bemoan, constantly, things that feel like setbacks, incidents that cost or waste time, when we could rather use our energy to strive onwards, look at the bigger picture, see it for a tiny blip that likely won't matter in a day, month, 5 years. \n\nTying this into another aspect of the universe - 'where thoughts go, energy flows.' What you focus on, you attract, and over-thinking, worrying, or complaining about certain things that are happening doesn't make your situation any better - you may just appear as a victim - and in many cases, worrying is just putting yourself though an impending horrible situation twice. Why would you do that to yourself?\n\nI had a housemate who would get very serious when I described myself or someone else as \"Happy-go-lucky\", because it's such a rare attribute to a person, and that it's not a term to 'throw around' as it were. But I really think that people who can differentiate themselves from the things happening, and focusing on the silver lining, or considering everything to be a real gift for growth, to be exactly this kind of person. I even consider myself to be somewhat happy-go-lucky. Many things tend to work out for me, theres no resistance, opportunities pop up and sometimes I'm wise enough to recognise them.",
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