Rethinking Lifestyle

Marcus Aurelius was one of the most respected Roman Emperors ruling from 161-180 AD. He was born into a prominent wealthy family and had the opportunity of a good education. His greatest interest was Stoic philosophy learned from his teachers and the writings of Epictetus.

One of the stoic principles he learned was to write a journal to document what he did and what he thought, so that you could go back and evaluate your previous thoughts and check to see if you were progressing and continually learning. Fortunately, Marcus Aurelius’s journal was saved, and we can read it. It is called Meditations.

I will provide you with a few highlights from Meditations as they apply equally well today as they did 2000 years ago.

Take time for self reflection. Keep a journal. Be mindful and seek solitude.

Learn to distinguish between what you can change and what you cannot change. Don’t worry about what you cannot change but rather focus on what you can change. You can typically control internal things like thoughts, beliefs, values, actions and perceptions. You can typically not control external things like the weather, how other people behave or who wins the game. We are responsible for what we can control, not for what we cannot control. Seek not the good in external things; seek it in yourself.

Transform adversity into opportunity. Embrace change. Seek challenges. Cultivate gratitude. Change is constant so use it as a catalyst for growing, transforming, renewal and adaptability.

Wisdom is understanding the natural order of things and our place in it. Virtue is the ethical principles that guide our thoughts, words and deeds.

Seek knowledge. Reflect on moral principles. Practise empathy and compassion. Seek understanding before seeking to be understood. Practise active listening.

Cultivate non-attachment to things. Focus on processes rather than outcomes. We don’t see the world as it actually is, we see it as it appears to us. How it appears depends on the condition of our mind. We can improve the condition of our mind and therefore the way we see the world.

It is not the conditions of your life that make you unhappy, it is how you perceive your life and how you respond what happens to you.

You may have high aspirations, but your expectations should be reasonable. Managing expectations is the art of seeing things for what they are.

Life and truth may not be what we want them to be, but they just are what they are. We will be happier if we can accept that. Acceptance in not submission. Everything we hear is an opinion, not necessarily a fact. Everything we see is a perspective not necessarily the entire truth.

Perfection of character is this: to live each day as if it were your last, without frenzy, without apathy, without pretense. Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars and see yourself running with them.