As we evolve this as a place for us all to share wisdom from the great thinkers across thousands of years, Marcus Aurelius to the modern day. Today we are with the great Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius and his book Meditations, one of my personal all time favourites.
Marcus lived over 2000 years ago ruling over an unimaginable kingdom and facing challenges far beyond what any of us could or would ever be able to comprehend. During this time he wrote personal meditations for himself which would be like journaling today, giving his ideas on stoic philosophy and how it affects every day life. Although written 2000 years ago, it seems to become more relevant every day to the challenges our world faces.
Marcus practiced many habits, rituals and routines with diligence, never being able to rest satisfied with light and superficial principles. The goal here from this note is to share these principles so that we may adapt these powerful values and ideals into our daily lives. The idea is to think carefully in mediation about what you read, deepen a sense of self and embark on a journey to put ancient wisdom at the core of our actions in our daily lives.
There are times especially at the end of the day when the temple of the soul is empty after the day is done, Marcus Aurelius sought some time to reflect and engage on the philosophy that helped him face his challenges, and these principles are a few drawn from the book of mediations.
The stoics favoured adaptability and flexibility, not fixed mind thinking that is the cause of so many challenges today, and so these have been adapted in small ways for our lives and where we find ourselves today as we think about how we could all do more and be more
And so to 10 principles that can be adapted into our daily lives to reflect clarity and beauty.
Reflect on your actions and if they met with your intentions.
Consider the actions you took during the day, do not be critical of yourself. If the day were to repeat, would you have said more? Done more? Done less? If so, prepare your energy for tomorrow. You can make improvements then.
As told in his book Meditations, do not waste the remainder of your life in thoughts about others. Labour not unwillingly, nor with regard to the common interest, nor without due consideration, nor with distraction, nor less studied ornament set off the thoughts, and be not ether a person of many words or busy about too many things.
As you finish reflecting, remember your purpose, your goals and the reason for doing what you do. Every action you make must be in alignment with your wisdom and virtue. If not, it's a poor use of your energy.
Move forward with acceptance.
If you are dissatisfied with anything that happened during your day, accept that you can't change it. Rest assured that whatever obstacle you are facing will not be here forever. You would be better prepared to meet and face it if you find peace in this present moment.
As Marcus Aurelius wrote nearly 2000 years ago. "Accept whatever comes to you woven in the pattern of your Destiney, for what could more apply fit your needs?"
Release. Breathe in and Breathe out.
Move your shoulders back, release the tension. Slowly turn your head to the right, hold for 20 seconds. then slowly turn your head forward again and repeat on the opposite side.
Engage in relaxing your breathing through mindful breathing and meditation. Close your eyes, inhale, picture a moment of your day, breathe out. Release it. Be grateful for your mind and body, and how you handled your challenges.
As Marcus Aurelius expressed, "Take full account of what excellences you posses, and in gratitude remember how you hanker after them, if you had them not. Happy am I that, though this has happened to me, I can continue free from pain, neither crushed by the present nor fearing the future."
Let go of the anxiety and relax.
Let go of all tensions, fears, worries or regrets from today. Be at peace that the day is finished, and that you persevered.
You have done enough for today, it is time to seek peace and gather energy for tomorrow. After all, if you are distressed by anything external to you, you are not distressed by the thing itself, only to your estimate of it, and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.
Remember. "The soul becomes dyed with the colour of it's thoughts."
Forgiveness.
Acknowledge that living a full day of happiness, challenges, is a privilege and a gift. You are alive, and life is a gift. Release the days concerns, forgive and amend with your faults, as well as the wrongdoings of others.
Even Marcus Aurelius meditated on the ability to forgive, and what that means for one's internal self-awareness. He wrote.
"Today I escaped anxiety. Or no, I discarded it as it was within me, a feeling of my own perceptions. Not outside. Whatever anyone does or says, I must be emerald and keep my colour."
Be Grateful.
Today held many challenges, many blessings and many lessons. Take only the useful things from today. Leave the pain, fears, hesitations and doubts behind so that they fade away like myths.
You are here in this present moment and you have the choice to be free from pain. Be grateful to your spirit and your strength for pushing you through to finish the day.
"Dwell upon the beauty of life and the lessons that it teaches us."
"Dwell on the beauty of life. Watch the stars, and see yourself running with them."
Everything in moderation. (Including moderation).
As Marcus Aurelius best said, "It is in your power to retire into yourself whenever you choose."
A n addition to our daily lives is to refrain from indulgence, whether it is food, drinks or anything that will disrupt or upset you. Turn your mind away from notifications, unanswered messages and emails.
Do not let them hinder your clear thinking and meditation at this very moment.
Set goals for tomorrow.
Spend some time journaling your thoughts for tomorrow. What will you aim for? What do you want to achieve? And once you are done do not forget to write down some positive words about yourself.
If you are having trouble ask yourself what qualities you have that will help me reach what I want to achieve?
If you choose not to write, engage an hour, or even just 10 minutes, in philosophical reading. When Marcus Aurelius had troubling thoughts or challenges involving his reign as Emperor, he sought to be a dedicated student to help mend his worries and sorrows.
As he described in meditations, "It never ceases to amaze me that we all love ourselves more than other people, yet care more about the opinions of those who we may not even know than that of our own."
"If someone can prove me wrong and show me my mistake in any thought or action I shall gladly change. I seek the truth which never harmed anyone. The harm is to persist in one's self deception and ignorance".
Give yourself a moment of tranquillity.
Remember that very little is needed to make a happy life. Dim the lights, lay down, close your eyes when you are ready.
It was during these moments that Marcus Aurelius ordered any left over thoughts in his mind. He wrote.
"Reject your sense of injury and the injury itself disappears. You always own the option of having no opinion. There is never any need to get worked up or to trouble your soul about things you can't control. These things are not asking to be judged by you. Leave them alone. Perfect tranquillity within consists in the good ordering of the mind, the realm inside you all of your own."
Prepare your mind and body for sleep.
Let yourself rest. Express gratitude to your body, to the privilege it gives you to move, rest and embrace peace as the day finishes.
Marcus Aurelius observed "Nowhere can we find a quieter or more untroubled retreat than in our own souls. If you find your mind wandering about what will await your tomorrow, or how you will approach your morning, ask yourself to remember the following note from the Mediations of Marcus.
"When you wake up in the morning tell yourself that the people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous and surely they are like this as they are not capable of seeing good from evil.
Through life experience, education and self development I have seen the beauty of good, and the ugliness of evil, and have recognised that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own, not the same blood at birth, yet the same mind, and possessing a share of the divine.
And so none of them can hurt me. No one can complicate me in ugliness. Nor can can I feel angry at my fellow human or hate them.
We were born to work together like feet, hands and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper and lower. To obstruct each other is unnatural. To feel anger at someone, to turn your back on them, this is unnatural in our greatest arena, life.
In conclusion Marcus Aurelius believed that among the greatest qualities that go to make up character is a sensitivity to the feeling of AWE and this is the surest sign of the higher life as it lies deeper than any other sensation or valuable.
Love, fame or truth have great power to dazzle and overcome challenges, it is however the feeling of Awe that bestows the most satisfaction. It is the element that sets a person apart from the many, and lifts them into the highest of mind and condition.
Like with all things in life, take what you feel gives value and discard the rest. As Marcus wrote "The purpose is to seek within yourself and in your way of thinking."
Personally I see the world, how we have become and I don't like it. I see Doing Well and Doing Good together is going to be a life long journey helping and supporting each other to remove self consciousness and the negative self perceptions that can be developed in childhood that have become so destructive at the highest levels of power, grown people behaving like children at the expense of everyone else, people with the power to destroy our planet, our lives and humanity, yet with little or no influence or power our their own behaviour.
This process of learning to understand must be led by ourselves first, we must get a better feel for our surroundings and rethink traditional thinking by expanding our consciousness with a move back to ancient wisdom, using applied psychology with a lot of philosophical debate to support humanity through an obvious time of crisis. Without reducing the destructive and childlike behaviours we see in a political systems, work places and throughout the corridors of power being cultivated by greed, we are on a road to destruction.
Life is a collection of experiences to be experienced in all forms and finding beauty in the flow of our universe through a process of Inner Engineering I believe is the path to inner peace and brighter better futures in the world for our children, and generations that follow.
This path becomes the road to a greater understanding of ourselves, the world around us and how we can start to meaningfully connect to a process of healing, supporting a broken society so desperately in need of positive transformation by people Doing Well, and Doing Good together for a global community.
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