Thoughts of & on Marcus Aurelius

In a time when many are beyond anxious amid a global pandemic, I hope you find peace.

I recently read an article on the Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius. He was a follower of the stoic branch of philosophy and was considered to be Plato’s ideal of the philosopher-king. Each night he would write his thoughts in a journal as a means of self-improvement, even as he lead the Roman armies into battle across Europe.

Some of his quotes are very apropos during this trying time.

Every generation before us had less than we do today, proving that,

“The needs of a happy life are very few.”

In this time of great turmoil it becomes necessary to,

“Understand that your time has a limit set to it.
Use it, then to advance your enlightenment;
or it will be gone, and never in your power again.”

With an understanding that our time on Earth is limited and that we really need less than we thought, we must deal with the worries of the day by remembering that,

“You have power over your mind — not outside events.
Realize this, and you will find strength.”

Let us all utilize that strength and:

“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be.
Be one.”

When you are watching the nightly news and worries and fears begin to creep back in, use the power of your mind (and over your mind) to remember:

“You don’t have to turn this into something.
It doesn’t have to upset you.”

One thing to note on these quotes attributed to Marcus Aurelius:

No one said any of this would be easy,
but ALL of it is certainly possible!

Or, as Audrey Hepburn put it:

Nothing is impossible, the word itself says ‘I’m possible’!

Go forth, do your best work, try hard, and #BeBetter tomorrow! Good luck!

3dnatureguy at en.wikipedia / CC BY-SA
(http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/)