| We like to think that if we become rich, our lives will become easier and we'll be less stressed out. It's a reasonable assumption—after all, anyone who has experienced financial hardship knows how stressful that can be. Yet those who have ever had money, as Seneca did, as Marcus Aurelius did, quickly discover that it too brings its own kind of stress. You're stressed because you're trying to keep up with the Joneses. You're stressed because, despite having ample income, it's still surprisingly easy to live beyond your means. You're stressed even if you do have a surplus of funds … because now you're worried whether or not you're investing it effectively enough. Or you're stressed that someone might steal it or mismanage it for you. What does it mean to discover that you'll be stressed either way? Stressed about having too little. Stressed about having too much. Stressed about not having more. It means exactly what Marcus Aurelius discovered about his anxiety. "I escaped anxiety today," he writes, before correcting himself. "No, I discarded it," he says, "because it is within me." This is a profound insight—that anxiety exists within us and can therefore be discarded by us. It's why we had it printed on our Anxiety Medallion so you can remember the influence you have over your anxiety (get yours here and read more about how this powerful tool can help combat stress below). The persistence of stress regardless of our circumstances or fortunes points to one unavoidable and inescapable commonality—YOU. It's your mind that's doing this. The wanting, comparing, catastrophizing, worrying, scheming, striving—that's your mind at work. That's you choosing not to be happy, to torture yourself, to waste time on what you don't control. Plenty of people with less have found contentment, while plenty with more have been miserable. You can lead a good life anywhere, the Stoics remind us. You can be stress-free and self-contained—or at least, not a mess—regardless of your bank balance, because these things have nothing to do with money and everything to do with you. P.S. We created our Anxiety Medallion as a physical reminder of the profound truth that stress exists within us—and therefore can be discarded by us, too. We also designed the coin with a hole at its center so you can twist and turn it in your hands to release nervous energy whenever you're feeling anxious (just like a fidget spinner!). Grab our Anxiety Medallion and carry it with you as a powerful tool over stress and anxiety today!
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