Daily Stoicism Quote | #83 (whatever)

submitted ago by Had

Concentrate every minute like a Roman— like a man— on doing what’s in front of you with precise and genuine seriousness, tenderly, willingly, with justice. And on freeing yourself from all other distractions. Yes, you can— if you do everything as if it were the last thing you were doing in your life, and stop being aimless, stop letting your emotions override what your mind tells you, stop being hypocritical, self-centered , irritable. You see how few things you have to do to live a satisfying and reverent life? If you can manage this, that’s all even the gods can ask of you.

-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

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Had ago

I have been a bit more listless than usual lately, so this quote really hit home for me. My mind tells me I need to do certain things but I have been lacking motivation to actually follow through on some of them.

I keep making excuses like, "everybody needs some time to reset or recharge", but that's just bullshit for me to get out of doing something I don't want to do. Instead I need to figure out WHY I don't want to do it and see how I can change that.

RacistJew ago

Yep. "Recharging" is bullshit. I feel horrible both physically and mentally after sitting on my ass watching TV, but it is a highly addictive drug.

Had ago

Agreed. I am trying to be productive in other ways to "recharge". For instance, when I am mentally drained, I workout. When I'm tired physically, I try to read something useful or spend some time with the family and be there emotionally. It's tiring, but I hope it gets easier as the habit forms.