Your boss—who is a jerk—pulled a jerk move. Your mother—who is passive-aggressive—said something passive-aggressive. That dishonest politician lied. That loud neighbor was loud.
The surprising thing about all this is that you were surprised. How could you not have seen this coming?
“That sort of person was bound to do that," Marcus Aurelius writes in Meditations (today is the last day to purchase our leatherbound edition to receive the How to Read Meditations Digital Guide—free). "You might as well resent a fig tree for secreting juice." Why are you letting it catch you off guard? Why are you taking it personally? This is what they do, he’s saying.
Think about all the hours we waste talking about what they did. All the nights we toss and turn at 2:00 am, replaying it. All the energy we give away reliving what they were always going to do.
Instead of marveling at and lamenting it, we should focus on being the kind of person that doesn’t get rattled by this. We should focus on being the kind of person who is bound to do and be something very different—that is to say, kind and empathetic, honest and respectful. That’s what our character has fated for us, and we should work hard to live up to it. Everyone else? Let them be exactly who they’ve shown you they are.
P.S. If you’ve ever thought “I should readMeditationssomeday...” Today is that day.
It's the final day of Meditations Month, where we've been doing a deep dive into Marcus Aurelius's timeless book. People from all over the world have been reading alongside us—for their first time or fiftieth. Through our How to Read Meditations Digital Guide, they've caught things they would have missed on their own, seen the book from angles they hadn't considered, and built a relationship with it that might otherwise have taken years.
This is my favorite book. It changed my life. I want it to change yours.
Today is your last chance to read and discuss Meditations with me, and to get the Digital Guide free when you order our exclusive leatherbound edition—an heirloom-quality version of the book worth owning for life. The guide includes 11 modules, video lessons, access to our private discussion platform, and a recording of my Q&A call from this past Monday, where I took readers’ questions.
Don’t miss this final chance to read and discuss Meditations with me.
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