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Mountain Ancestors Grove, ADF

A Year of Contemplation

Circumstances Have No Care for Our Feelings (Day 54)

2/23/2019

 
Picture

Flat tire in the middle of a trip? Snowy and icy roads impeding our travels? Battery runs out of juice? Shoe comes untied? Gravity? Time?

Who cares?

Only us. Certainly not the tires, not the roads, not the snow, batteries, shoes, gravity, or time. Only us.

Why? Why don’t these inanimate things or situations care about our untimely delays or annoyances, our tripping and falling, or our feelings about any of the above?

You shouldn’t give circumstances the power to rouse anger, for they don’t care at all.”
​(Marcus Aurelius,
Meditations, 7.38)

Well, it’s not only because they’re circumstances and inanimate… but because they’re outside of our control.

Getting upset and having “the feels” about situations is, at best, a waste of our emotional power, and at worst… an ego-driven attempt at self-soothing.

So, what do we do about situations and circumstances?

We deal with the tire. We watch the snow fall, and do the best with what we have in the moment. We replace the battery, or practice patience until we can. We bend down and re-tie our shoes. We accept that gravity and time are beyond our control.

Our responses and how much we surrender to our emotions, though, are well within our control…

… and so, we control ourselves.

(See y’all tomorrow)

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    About the Blog

    Awakening the desire to explore Stoicism, and how it relates to his existing beliefs, Rev. William committed to working through the text, The Daily Stoic, a year-long journey to awaken the Stoic mind. 
    How things are structured can be found in the first post. 

    About the Author

    Born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, Rev. William attended Naropa University in Boulder, Colorado where in 2007 he graduated with a degree in Religious Studies, minoring in Psychology. Currently residing in Longmont, CO, he is one of the Priests and founder of Mountain Ancestors Grove.  He spends his time playing mandolin (and some guitar), writing, engaging in LGBTQIA+ advocacy and education, community service, and sharing a larger vision of how a polytheist perspective can lead to greater human understanding, acceptance, and gods be good, peace. 

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