Last Week

The Daily Stoic

The Practicing Stoic

Meditations

How to Be a Stoic

If you have anger issues, this one is a great tool, H/T mindyourbusiness:

The Stoic Challenge

Disclaimer: I’m not your Supervisor. These are my opinions after reading through these books a few times.

 

April 16

“Pay close attention in conversation to what is being said, and to what follows from any action. In the action, immediately look for the target, in words, listen closely to what’s being signaled.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 7.4

I try to be careful in what I say. I have never said “I’m gonna kill you” in anger. I also try to be careful about what I do. I try to make my actions match my actual (not just stated) goals. I am not always successful at this. Last week, my toe had healed enough to try to run on and I keep saying I need to get in shape again, but I was unable (unwilling) to actually go running. This week, I have ran twice, so there is progress.

 

April 17

“Do away with the opinion I am harmed, and the harm is cast away too. Do away with being harmed, and harm disappears.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 4.7

This is still a difficult thing for me. I had my last appointment for my surgery follow up last week and the mask still infuriates me, even though I leave it below my nose the whole time in there. Still had high blood pressure when they checked. I know it’s 100% mental, but haven’t figured out how to not do that yet.

 

April 18

“What is bad luck? Opinion. What are conflict, dispute, blame, accusation, irreverence, and frivolity? They are all opinions, and more than that, they are opinions that lie outside of our own reasoned choice, presented as if they were good or evil. Let a person shift their opinions only to what belongs in the field of their own choice, and I guarantee that person will have peace of mind, whatever is happening around them.”
—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.3.18b–19

Remember that it takes two people to start a fight, or maintain a feud. I try to choose to ignore things from others designed to piss me off and am much better than I used to be, but there is still improvements to be made.

 

April 19

“Epictetus says we must discover the missing art of assent and pay special attention to the sphere of our impulses—that they are subject to reservation, to the common good, and that they are in proportion to actual worth.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 11.37

Many of my impulses have nothing to do with anything I actually control, nor would they do anyone else any good if I followed them. If I know this about myself, it helps to lessen the amount of time I waste thinking about them. Concentrating on the good impulse gives me more of them and keeps me sane.

 

April 20

“Here’s a way to think about what the masses regard as being ‘good’ things. If you would first start by setting your mind upon things that are unquestionably good—wisdom, self-control, justice, courage—with this preconception you’ll no longer be able to listen to the popular refrain that there are too many good things to experience in a lifetime.”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 5.12

What is “good”? To me, it is a happy life with my wife. If I can have wisdom, self-control, justice, and courage in my daily life, that will make the happy life more likely. It also makes it less likely that I would allow outside influence to encourage me to damage the life I am building. This isn’t a problem now, but when I was younger, I did have dirt bag friends.

 

April 21

“When you let your attention slide for a bit, don’t think you will get back a grip on it whenever you wish—instead, bear in mind that because of today’s mistake everything that follows will be necessarily worse. . . . Is it possible to be free from error? Not by any means, but it is possible to be a person always stretching to avoid error. For we must be content to at least escape a few mistakes by never letting our attention slide.”
—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 4.12.1; 19

I screw up sometimes. It is important to recognize this and “be a person always stretching to avoid error”. If not, it is too easy to let it slide and think because I didn’t run today, it’s OK to eat some chips and drink a coke, instead of eating some fruit for a snack. Sleep is another thing that starts going south in a hurry, when I don’t sleep enough, I don’t do as well at work, and am more likely to take a nap when I get home. Once I nap, I have a hard time sleeping that night and the cycle starts over.

April 22

“These are the characteristics of the rational soul: self-awareness, self-examination, and self-determination. It reaps its own harvest. . . . It succeeds in its own purpose . . .”
—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 11.1–2

I am aware of what I still struggle in. I check in on my progress nightly before I sleep. I use this information to decide what I need to improve to have better self control. I know it’s working. Last week, my wife mentioned she hasn’t seen “Angry Ron” lately. This was in the middle of a situation that last year would have had me seeing red. Like working out, feeling internal improvement is nice, but it’s very nice to get outside validation sometimes.

 

Music this week is Shooter.

I HATE modern country, and I think Shooter agrees. Outlaw You

Here he is with Bucky Covington doing a fun song. I don’t know if there is a legal limit to how many cute chicks you can have in your video, but if there is, this one has to be cutting it close. Drinkin’ Side of Country