Once upon a time, people put effort into thinking about things. Leaders sought wisdom and truth. They sought to improve themselves and the world around them. Character, logic, learning and quality of life were among common goals.
One of those great thinkers, Marcus Aurelius, was born on this day in the year 121. He was a philosopher and Roman emperor from 161 until his death in 180.
He wrote about many topics which you can read in Meditations, a book he wrote as guidance for his own self improvement. One of the topics he covered frequently was this idea that the quality of our thoughts impacts everything else in our life.
You might say he was one of the world’s first self help gurus!
To be honest, I haven’t read the book but my fella did and shared with me his favorite passages along the way. I have read a little about Aurelius here and there and always stop to ponder his writings on the quality of thoughts..
This has been a prevalent topic for me these last few weeks. I’m doing a weekly leadership training at work where the quality of our thoughts is a topic of focus. The theme of thoughts and the stories we tell ourselves has popped up in other ways lately as well causing me to think that I’m meant to hear and work with a specific message.
Marcus said:
You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.
In other words, you can’t control the rest of the world but you can control what information you choose to consume and how you choose to react. Guard your thoughts and guard your mind for greater strength.
The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.
Your happiness doesn’t hinge on your fancy car or new boat. How you choose to think about and view your life and what’s happening around you will absolutely determine your level of happiness. Isn’t that an incredible thought? You are the master of your fate every time you choose to put a positive spin on your thoughts. Hold onto negativity and you’ll be a master of destruction and doubt.
Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.
This is an especially important one with our constant exposure to information and the truly horrifying spiral of the American political system into pure lies and borderline treason. Not to mention the deep lies and manipulation made possible by AI. Don’t listen to or at least don’t believe everything you hear or see.
Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.
Be whoever and whatever you wish to be. In an ever maddening world where you can’t always make things better, you can at least improve on yourself. And if you can improve you, then maybe you stand a chance of making the rest of the world at least a little bit better.
In the grand scheme of things, self betterment is really all any of us can guarantee. I hope that Marcus Aurelius would be pleased to know that his ideas for self betterment and the will to control our own thoughts still resonate with some of us today.
Happy Birthday Marcus Aurelius!