Soon you will have forgotten all things: soon all things will have forgotten you. - Marcus Aurelius In the story of your country or your culture, your time is short and that oblivion comes soon. In the vast timescale of the planet Earth or the Universe, it is even shorter. This means that the only [...]
Author: Antti
You don’t have to have an opinion
“Does anyone bathe hastily? Do not say that they do it ill, but hastily. Does anyone drink much wine? Do not say that they do ill, but that they drink a great deal. For unless you perfectly understand their motives, how should you know if they act ill? Thus you will not risk yielding to [...]
Be anxious!
"I have only one anxiety: that I myself should not do something which the human constitution does not intend - or does not intend in this way or at this time.” - Marcus Aurelius Ask yourself all the time: "does this come from good intentions and is this helpful". Keep a constant tension [...]
Do not resist change
Is someone afraid of change? Well, what can ever come to be without change? Or what is dearer or closer to the nature of the Whole than change? Can you yourself take your bath, if the wood that heats it is not changed...Can any of the benefits of life be achieved without change? Do you [...]
All work and no play
Friendship, love, family and work bring some responsibilities. Resentful and angry, we may at times think that it’s all just chores; all work and no play. Before you give in to bitterness, ask yourself: are you really compelled to do even half of those things you sometimes feel like you must do? Do others really [...]
Big Questions
Here are some very fundamental, big questions. Go ahead, give them a go. Even better if you write down your answers, and return to them once in a while. Task #1 Answer these. What is ultimately the most important thing in life to you? What do you want your life to 'stand for' or [...]
Whatever anyone does or says
"Whatever anyone does or says, I must be a good man. It is as if an emerald, or gold or purple, were always saying: ‘Whatever anyone does or says, I must be an emerald, and keep my own colour.’" - Marcus Aurelius This is always a timely reminder. It again boils down to the [...]
Today’s Meditation: watch “Optimistic Nihilism”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBRqu0YOH14 In this video-game of life, time is an issue. Time may be The Issue, since it will inevitably separate you from some things soon, and from all things eventually. If you have little children, you will very soon lose them by them growing up and going to school, becoming teenagers, and then [...]
Play it like a video-game
"Use only the appropriate actions of pursuit and avoidance; and even these lightly, and with gentleness and reservation. “ - Epictetus Today, as I was planning my day’s activities, I wrote down a little list. It included a bunch of things that I was hoping to get done during the day, some chores and also some [...]
Five-star rating
...and the memory of everything is rapidly buried in eternity - Marcus Aurelius Give yourself five stars for everything. Just today. Regardless of what else took place, if you were today wise enough to take a while to meditate, a while to walk or run, a while to read, a while to sit in the [...]
Fate Permitting 