Last Week

The Daily Stoic

The Practicing Stoic

Meditations

How to Be a Stoic

I really liked this one, H/T mindyourbusiness:

The Stoic Challenge

Disclaimer: I’m not your Supervisor. These are my opinions after reading through these books a few times.

April 9

“From the very beginning, make it your practice to say to every harsh impression, ‘you are an impression and not at all what you appear to be.’ Next, examine and test it by the rules you possess, the first and greatest of which is this—whether it belongs to the things in our control or not in our control, and if the latter, be prepared to respond, ‘It is nothing to me.’”
—EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 1.5

It is easy to get myself worked up at the latest outrage. Everyone at work was talking about Chris Rock getting smacked by Will Smith. I got sucked in a little, it was a very mild joke and was in no way a “defense of his wife”. About a minute into the discussion, I stopped and told my co-worker “I could not care less about what those people do.” Then I changed the subject.

 

April 10

“It isn’t events themselves that disturb people, but only their judgments about them.”
—EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 5

During recovery from my surgery, I would sometimes slip into self pity and anger at my condition. My swelling was manageable and I wasn’t in pain, just stuck on the couch. My judgement of the fairness of the situation was causing me more distress than my actual condition. Every time I was able to control my attitude, I was still not happy with the situation, but I was not distressed either.

 

April 11

“Throw out your conceited opinions, for it is impossible for a person to begin to learn what he thinks he already knows.”
—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.17.1

One of the reasons I was successful in the Marine Corps was my ability to listen to training and do it the way they wanted me to and not the way I thought I knew how to do it. This started at the rifle range in boot camp. I thought I knew how to shoot and was trying to do it the way I knew. After shooting horribly for a couple days and a serious talking to from the range coach, I started doing it their way and was able to shoot high sharpshooter/low expert for my entire career.

 

April 12

“Atreus: Who would reject the flood of fortune’s gifts?

Thyestes: Anyone who has experienced how easily they flow
back.”
—SENECA, THYESTES, 536

Wealth can be a trap. I am fairly well off, and because of this, I have made decisions differently than I would have if I was poor and had less to lose. Not just getting the vaccine, but also my silence at work about politics when the progressives spout off about the latest thing. Not sure what the answer is from this point, or how much of a problem it is for me.

 

April 13

“Don’t act grudgingly, selfishly, without due diligence, or to be a contrarian. Don’t overdress your thought in fine language. Don’t be a person of too many words and too many deeds. . . . Be cheerful, not wanting outside help or the relief others might bring. A person needs to stand on their own, not be propped up.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 3.5

It is easy for me to be a contrarian, I don’t know anybody on a daily basis that I agree with, but it would serve no purpose to do it just to have an argument.(however, I could be arguing in my spare time) I have no problem with the second sentence, as anyone who interacts with me can tell, I am not a flowery speaker.  It is not important if I impress other people with how my life appears. It is important that I am able to be happy with how my life is. Bragging about things {even if the are true) is not beneficial to anyone.

 

April 14

“Believe me, it’s better to produce the balance-sheet of your own life than that of the grain market.”
—SENECA, ON THE BREVITY OF LIFE, 18.3b

I have always been a productive worker and am fairly skillful at many trades. While that is good, it is more important that I am skillful at living and being a success in that regard. I hope at the end, my balance sheet reflects a good man who did try to improve himself.

April 15

“Nothing will ever befall me that I will receive with gloom or a bad disposition. I will pay my taxes gladly. Now, all the things which cause complaint or dread are like the taxes of life—things from which, my dear Lucilius, you should never hope for exemption or seek escape.”
—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 96.2

I understand the concept of paying taxes gladly. I should be happy that I can afford to pay so much. I also understand that taxes are a fact of life for all of recorded history and before. That being said, taxation is theft and I still hate them. The taxes of life are a little easier to “pay gladly”. Aches, pains, and illness being a few of these. As long as I can control my impressions and judgement of these setbacks, they will not affect my state of mind.

 

Music this week is Badlands, Jake E. Lee’s band after Ozzy fired him. If you like stripped back 70’s style rock, they were great and it is a shame they were not more popular.

Dreams in the Dark

3 day Funk