Stoicism for a Better Life – Weekly exercise (May 16, 2021)

Hello there,

Summer is around the corner…spring is in the air…vaccines are finding their ways into arms…oh yeah,, I foresee lots more human interaction in our future. With that in mind let’s look at some words from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations X 9:

“Drama, combat, numbness, and subservience – everyday these things wipe out your sacred principles, whenever your mind entertains them uncritically or lets them slip in.”

Everyday we are faced with challenges. This is a fact that has been true from the day you are born to the day you die. And nothing that we know of thus far can stop this from happening. Even as the most powerful man in the western world, Marcus Aurelius is reminding himself of this simple fact: That things we don’t like (as in things we wish did not happen) WILL happen to us, again and again.

So facing “challenges” is a surety. What is not for certain is how we will respond to said adversity, because we happen to be in control of our choices. Our school teaches us that okay fine, sure we can’t control what we face, but hold up…we can at least control how we respond. Why is this? Because we  are ultimately the holders of the key to our ruling faculty. Your consciousness (the real you) is the gatekeeper and the body’s primitive mind can ONLY take control of the ruling faculty if you choose to vacate it. 

Vacating the ruling faculty is not a bad thing. It would be impossible to stay “plugged in” to your consciousness and to be mindful all the time. Sometimes one needs to just go on some sort of an autopilot run (like when you’re driving a car). What Marcus Aurelius is reminding himself here is to be extra cautious when he feels such angst, for that is when the clandestine enemy is at his strongest.

So for this practical exercise, be vigilant when you are feeling anger, fatigue, stress, etc because not only do you have to continue working to be a good human being, but you also have to work hard to ensure you do not become a slave to your more basic instincts and regress in your habits.

I wish you all a great week and look forward to chatting with some of you.

Anderson Silver (Stoicism for a Better Life)