Marcus Aurelius was one of the last “good emperors” of Rome — who genuinely cared
for the well-being of his citizens.
He lived in a time where death was prevalent— and chaos was everywhere.
He wrote a manual for himself which we now know as the “Meditations.”
Even though he wrote these words around 2,000 years ago — his insights still carry strong
weight today.
Here are some insights of his stoic philosophy we can apply to your own life and make it
meaningful.
1.
Ignore what others are doing Marcus Aurelius says "Do not waste what remains
of your life in speculating about your neighbors.
Anything that distracts you from fidelity to the Ruler within you— means a loss of
opportunity for some other task.”
It means that our time is very limited so Why waste our precious energy worrying about
our neighbors?
Why do we care what they are doing, what they are up to, and what they think of us?
We need to ignore everyone and focus on our task at hand.
What is our task?
Whatever is our calling on earth — whether that means creating art, empowering others,
or being a loving parent.
Today with social media, we are addicted to what others are doing.
We waste our mental energy being envious of others and comparing ourselves to them and
hence feel frustrated that we aren’t as successful as our peers.
In order to stay focused and ignore what others are doing, you need to take a break from doing
anytthing that concerns others.
Uninstall all social media apps from your phone, and don’t check your Facebook, Instagram,
or any other social media network for an entire week.
This does not mean to ignore your friends and family but this experiment for a week
will help you to devote all your time, energy, and effort to your own needs.
It will make you less envious, jealous and you will stay focused in your own creative
work.
2.
Your Reality is Made by your opinions.
Marcus Aurelius tells us: “Life is but what you deem it.”
“Life is opinion.”
It means that There is no “objective” reality out there— we shape our own reality.
We shape our own perception of the world with our thoughts.
No external “reality” exists outside of our perceptions.
The practical way you can apply this mode of thinking in your life is this: see everything
in a positive light.
For example, let’s say that someone talks shit about you to your face.
Rather than feeling frustrated, you can tell yourself: “I’m glad that someone is talking
shit about me, it means that I am not boring — and doing something interesting.”
Furthermore, when people insult us, try to harm us, or criticize us — it isn’t the
insult which hurts us.
It is our interpretation of what they are saying which hurts us.
If we interpret others’ actions as irrelevant, how can we feel hurt?
Practice it for a week.
Interpret every action that happens to you as positive.
For example, if someone insults you, think to yourself: “How can this insult make me
a stronger person?”
See every opportunity as a growth opportunity.
3.
Do less Marcus Aurelius reminds us the importance
of doing less in life— and cutting out the superfluous actions from his life:
"If thou wouldst know contentment, let thy deeds be few,’ said the sage.
Better still limit them strictly to such as are essential, and to such as in a social
being reason demands, and as it demands.”
It means Many of our actions and words are unnecessary.
By not doing superfluous actions, we will be less stressed.
We need to cut out the unnecessary things in our lives.
The less superfluous actions, words, thoughts, and emotions — the more focus we will have
for what is really important to us in life.
That might be time with your family, time to do your creative work, or the chance to
help others.
For a week, always ask yourself: “Is this superfluous?”
whenever making decisions.
You can apply this in many different ways.
For example if you have social obligations — ask yourself, “Is this social meeting
superfluous?”
Learn how to say “no” — and say it as often as you can.
4.
Death is knocking at your door “Take it that you have died today, and your
life’s story is ended; and henceforward regard what further time may be given you
as an uncovenanted surplus.”
Think about all the people who learn they have cancer or some other disease.
Once they discover this, they drop all the shit they don’t like doing in life — and
only focus on what is important to them.
When we know that death is close, we don’t waste our time.
We don’t waste our precious leisure time watching TV or other forms of passive entertainment.
We rush into doing what we are passionate about, and work that is meaningful to us.
We spend more time with our loved ones, and omit superfluous people and actions from our
lives.
Reminding ourselves of death gives us focus.
Today, imagine like it were your last day on earth.
What would you do, and what would you not do for your day?
What would you tell your loved ones?
Who would you spend time with, and who would you not spend time with?
What creative act would you do?
What would you not do in your day, if you knew today was the last?
Constantly meditate on this — live everyday as if it were your last.
Because one day, it will be.
5.
You’re stronger than you think Whenever someone tries to harm you, think
of these words from Marcus Aurelius: “How lucky I am, that it has left me with
no bitterness; unshaken by the present, and undismayed by the future.
The thing could have happened to anyone, but not everyone would have emerged unembittered.”
It means You’re tougher than you think.
You can’t prevent others from throwing shit at you.
But you can change your interpretation of the situation.
If you want to be a world-class boxer, you will have to fight difficult opponents.
You will get beaten up, break a few bones, bleed, and as a result— you will get stronger.
Lets be honest - life is hard and Sometimes to live is an act of courage.
Today, Imagine yourself like the strongest person in the world.
You’re stronger than others.
Whenever others try to harm you, imagine little arrows trying to pierce your golden armor.
You’re a giant, and others are ants trying to harm you.
Whenever harm comes your way, remind yourself: “Thank God I’m so strong, this could have
broken others, but it hasn’t broken myself.”
6.
You are rising for the work of humankind Marcus Aurelius tells us "A man’s true delight
is to do the things he was made for".
What were you designed for?
It depends.
What is your gift?
It might be your ability to socialize, to make others feel loved, your skill for reading
or writing, your skill for research, your skill for synthesizing information and data,
your skill for making visual images, your skill for empowering others, your skill for
teaching, or your skill for making the world a more beautiful place.
Discover your gift, and figure out how you can best share it with others.
If you don’t know what your gift is— ask your friends, family, or your mom.
Think about your gifts as a child, and how you can best use your personal gift to help
those around you.
How can you best empower humankind with your gift?
Always meditate on this, and don’t get distracted.
7.
Never complain Marcus Aurelius says "Is your cucumber bitter?
Throw it away.
Are there briars in your path?
Turn aside.
That is enough" It means why must we complain?
If there is someone who annoys you — just ignore them.
Unfollow them from social media, or just cut your social ties with them.
Do you hate your job?
Either quit your job, or figure out a way to make it less painful or miserable.
We often cannot change our external situations in the world — but we can always change
our attitude towards it.
Most of us don’t have much time, energy, or money.
Yet given our limited means, how can we make the best of what we have?
Instead of complaining about life, think of how you can best use your limited means to
do your life’s task.
Let’s say your dream is to start your own business.
But you have no experience, money, or time.
How can you turn that into a benefit?
Perhaps you don’t have any dogma holding you back when it comes to business.
Perhaps by not having a lot of money, you can be more creative to be frugal with your
business— and create an economical business.
Creativity breeds on constraints— so harness your constraints in a positive way.
8.
You Can Live Happy Anywhere Marcus Aurelius says “Let it be clear to
you that the pace of green fields can always be yours, in this, that or any other spot;
and that nothing is any different here from what it would be either up in the hills, or
down by the sea, or wherever else you will.”
What causes a lot of misery for many of us is our homes, where we live, and the wish
to be somewhere else.
We might live in the suburbs, and wished we lived in the city.
We might live in the city, and prefer living in the countryside.
We live in the countryside, we might wish living at the beach.
We live at the beach, we wish we lived on an island.
If we lived on an island, perhaps we might prefer the convenience of living in a suburb.
If you were happy with where you lived and the home you lived in — and didn’t desire
to live elsewhere, or in a bigger or better home, how much more energy, money, and attention
could you have for better things in life?
Write a list of the positives of your home, your neighborhood, or city.
Never think of the negatives.
And likewise— think of all the other places you would prefer to live.
Then write the negatives of living in those other places (the cost of living, traffic,
pollution, distance from family and friends, etc).
And then seek to not complain about your home or where you live.
And dedicate all of your creative energy to doing something personally-meaningful.
9.
Help the common good Marcus Aurelius says “Avoid all actions
that are haphazard or purposeless; and secondly, let every action aim solely at the common
good.”
It means To be a honorable and purposeful human being is to help others.
To help others not as fortunate as us.
To share our gift, our knowledge, and our resources.
Keep doing good towards others, even though they may hate us.
And once you help others, forget it.
Better yet— don’t even be conscious that you’re helping others.
Marcus Aurelius tells us to have “no consciousness of all of what he has done, like the vine
which produces a cluster of grapes looks for no more thanks than a horse that has run his
race.”
For a week, do good to others, without expecting any praise.
The pleasure of having helped others is good enough.
10.
Be grateful of your blessings Marcus Aurelius says “Do not indulge in
dreams of having what you have not, but reckon up the chief of the blessings you do possess,
and then thankfully remember how you would crave for them if they were not yours.”
No matter how wealthy or successful we are, we can never get everything that we want.
Happiness isn’t having everything in the world.
Rather, happiness is being grateful for all the blessings we already have.
Count your blessings, and then vividly imagine if you didn’t have those blessings.
How much would you crave those blessings if you didn’t have them?
I hope that you can also integrate some of these lessons into your life, to give you
less suffering, stress, anxiety, and more strength to do your life’s task — to serve
the common good.
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