Stoicism for a Better Life – Weekly exercise (February 14, 2021)

Hello there,

For those of you who are tracking, this post is the 104th post of what we used to call Practical Exercises of the Week (PEotW), which has since been rebranded as Stoicism for a Better Life. In other words, I’ve been doing this for exactly two years. It has been a pleasure hearing all the great stories and I always encourage you to reach out and share more of your stories (whatever your preferred social media platform). The important thing is to share and chat, because I can confirm to you that your stories definitely help inspire others. 

Helping others become better…helping yourself become better…working together to become better…that is what we’re trying to accomplish here after all. So let’s keep that going with some really inspiring words from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations VI 29:

“It is a shame for the soul to be first to give way in this life, when your body does not give way.”

We’re trying to become better and help inspire others to become better. Why? Because through our school’s teachings we have come to the simple and logical conclusion that working towards the betterment of humanity is the only thing worth doing during our very short stay in this temporal life. And given that we are social animals (pack animals) what is good for me is good for others, and vice versa. So self improvement is just as virtuous as helping others.

But that is not the purpose of this quote above. Instead, Marcus Aurelius is reminding himself that although he is old, ill, tired and dying, he should not and cannot stop pursuing virtuous ends. Recall that Marcus wrote most of the Meditations (that survives) during the end of his life. Moreover, most of it was spent at the front lines while fighting the Northern Germanic tribes. He was constantly tired, cold, ill and wondered if he was nearing the end of his life. This is apparent throughout his meditations and the above quote is no exception.

But the message is clear and inspiring. It does not matter how your body feels…how tired you are…how sick, emotional, anxious, injured, etc… No, as long as you have the breath of life in you, you have the CAPACITY to do good. And if you have the capacity, then you should do your darndest best to be virtuous, precisely because you can.

So as a practical exercise this week, isolate something physical you have been complaining about that is keeping you from being just a little bit more virtuous. And then challenge it. Do not give up on your real self (the real you, your faculty of reason, your Prohairesis, your daemon) for anything external, including your body. Keep working on it and focusing on it and improving it your whole life. As long as you are alive, you can be as good as you want to be. You have the capacity. And I’m rooting for you.

Anderson Silver