you must treat everything the same
“Calmness of mind is one of the beautiful jewels of wisdom. It is the result of long and patient effort in self-control. Its presence is an indication of ripened experience, and of a more than ordinary knowledge of the laws and operations of thought.” ― James Allen, As a Man Thinketh
If there’s one thing that we can be certain of, it’s that life is never a linear path. It’s a roller coaster journey. The sooner you make peace with this essential truth, the easier things will get for you.
Life comprises peaks and valleys. You will go through ups and downs, it’s a given. You will have good times, and you will have bad experiences. You will have moments of pain and extreme discomfort, and you will also be blessed with lucky incidents and strokes of good fortune. And that’s why, you must cultivate indifference to life’s pendulum swings.
Maybe you think that you’re the luckiest person on the planet. Or you may believe that life has always been incredibly unfair to you. I don’t know you. But what I can say with absolute confidence is that both these mindsets can have a toxic impact on your life.
You must think like Marcus Aurelius and train yourself to follow this advice that he gave to himself, “To accept it without arrogance, to let it go with indifference.”
You must meet success with humility and failure with dignity. In reality, neither one of them is permanent; in truth, everything is in flux. And that’s why, it’s wise to always keep these words of Winston Churchill in mind, “Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.”
You must become immune to external circumstances; none of them dictate and determine your intrinsic value. The key to becoming a superior human and achiever is to be calm, collected and courageous and have utmost self-discipline, no matter what happens in your life.
PS: If you enjoyed reading this essay and are inclined to learn the essential tools and strategies of Stoicism in these uncertain and difficult times, I encourage you to read my eBook Daily Stoicism which is the third book in The Daily Learner series. Through this book, you can be in tune with the Stoic philosophy on a daily basis as you face the challenges of everyday life with practical wisdom and inner fortitude. The wisdom of great philosophers such as Epictetus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius as well as modern authors such as Ryan Holiday and Donald Robertson has been distilled in a form that is easy to digest and consume (even if you’re not a reader!). The condensed timeless knowledge in these meditations will guide you in navigating through the complexities that come with modern living, and help you in your quest to living a virtuous and meaningful life, especially in this global health crisis.
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