This was my journal entry from last night over who Marcus Aurelius was and a example of how he has helped me critically think about myself.
written at 7:30 pm July 9th.
Who is Marcus Aurelius?
Marcus Aurelius was once the most powerful man to walk the earth. One of the great emperors, and leaders of the empire of ancient Rome. Born in A.D 121, Marcus Annius Verus was born like any other child… I’m kidding, this was a man born in to a world of wonderment and thinkers, he was a man from birth molded to be a great emperor, learning the ways of stoics from Epictetus himself. He was in the most simple way, the ideal good man.
Meditations
After a brief description of who he was, I hope that you were able to get at least a grasp of the power this man had, and how unbelievable that it is that with the role he had, of quite possibly the most powerful man to walk the earth leading the greatest empire of all. He was known to be fair, kind, understanding, of good temper, loyal, patient and all the qualities you would aspire to have. I seemed to ask myself when I learned of Marcus.
How did he not let it get to his head? How did he keep composure with the role he had? How did he remain a good man in spite of everyone around him trying to pull him to corruption?
Luckily enough, his personal diary, bedside Journal, his place of thoughts, emotions, and most importantly, his game plan that he was taking to become a good man still has its pages turned thousands of years later. That’s what the meditations is.
The meditations is the handbook of Marcus Aurelius and his guide and teacher to himself to be a good man
“Do not think of what it takes to be a good man. Just be one”
Throughout this book, journal, whatever you may call it, we get insight into the thoughts of this man. It’s mind blowing to me that something like it is real.
I’m going to use an example of introspection that I have gone through thanks to Marcus to kinda show the power of a simple quote from him that sincerely changed my life.
How cruel-to forbid people to want what they think is good for them. And yet that’s just what you wont let them do when you get angry at their misbehavior. They’re drawn toward what they think is good for them.
-But its not good for them.
Then show them that. Prove it to them. Instead of losing your temper.
Meditations, Book six – 27
A personal introspection story
I would love to write and talk about a bunch of quotes but this one has had a big impact on me and my life personally. It has helped me understand this weird complex I had of thinking I know the best way to approach life. (first mistake was thinking I knew anything.) and this tarnished and belittled a lot of the relationships I had around me, it made me seem very controlling, well not seem, I was. I felt the need to fix these things I labeled as problems in their life. When right and wrong is relative, and also not my position to urge as good or bad for the
A good example of me seeing this happen within my life is with someone I’ll just refer to as Basil. I like plants.
This person lived a different lifestyle than I me, a lifestyle I used to live, but after sometime and life events just fell out of. For some reason I felt that this lifestyle didn’t work for me, so it wouldn’t work for them either. But I only ended up stealing this person from who they were, and its one of my biggest regrets because I was withholding them from this life thinking that I ‘knew it wasn’t good’. I was taking them from who they were, even though I was surrounding myself with this person because I loved who they were when I met them.
After a lot of thought and sitting with it I just simply realized it was never them, it was me. and like wow really would’ve never guessed, but that is why this book is so funny to me, there’s various obvious quotes through out the book, but are they really obvious until we state they are? and if they were so obvious wouldn’t we have noticed it already?
I had to think.
I was projecting my insecurities of social scenes, as I was keeping myself in social isolation for a while, not just due to Covid but just because I had this constant anxiety of not showing the public image that I wanted people to see of me.
I was scared people would see the dark shadow that followed me, and I never noticed it, but the moment someone told me about this shadow that has been following me extruding all these bad qualities (that person was also Marcus). I was terrified of going into public because of what people would think of this shadow.
So I let my insecurities project on to them, almost being fearful that the same fears I had, would extrude through them.
Whether it was good or bad for them, that was for them to decide. If it is truthfully not good for them ,and bringing this person harm, as Marcus states in the second half of the quote. “then show them that, prove it to them. instead of losing your temper.
I should’ve continued to live my life, and prospered, and if they didn’t think that is was worth leaving the scene they were in, then that couldn’t have been a problem anymore to me as they are their own person. Their actions and their decisions are not mine to make. I do not have control over anything on this earth, besides my own actions. (Stoic dichotomy of control)
So to basil, if you’re reading this, I’m so very sorry for doing this to you, and I hope whatever actions you do wish to partake in, that you are living them out to their fullest potential. Same to yourself, and same to the reader as this whole story goes both ways.
Closing statements
This is the type of introspection Ive been able to gain from a single quote. Imagine what you yourself could do with the whole book.
you can get a copy of meditations (click on the link here to go right to it) if you’re interested on amazon, Ill leave a link at the bottom to the version Ive been carrying around for the last 3 years everyday, everywhere I go.
This book is one of thousands that can, and will change your life and perspective if you sit with it long enough, it has for me.
This was a brief explanation of who Marcus Aurelius was and a personal example of just one of the many ways he has changed my life. I’ll definitely be speaking on him many more in the future.
8:42pm
Thank you for being here today. I hope you have an amazing day.
Be the best version of you today.
Get 1% better (that’s what the next article will be about, very excited to talk about this one.)
Attached is a picture of my meditations book next to me at the coffee shop as I’m typing this right now.
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Here is a link to my last article and first Journal entry where I speak on hope and what I feel it is.