Fighting Beside Seneca

We have all done it… Found ourselves hurt and disappointed when we didn’t get the approval of others. Found ourselves hurt and disappointed even though we don’t even respect or like the person withholding the approval. Even though we recognize that the person may not even understand the situation, and even though we are certain that we have done well, or at least, done our best. Why? Why do we allow others such sway over us? Why would we ever allow something so totally outside of our own control and as arbitrary as the thoughts of others to impact our peace? This is simple… You know that we all have different skills, different interests, and different levels of education & training regarding whatever the topic. AND, you know whether or not, in any situation, you have given your best. What else is there? Nothing! The wise throughout history have tried to help us understand this. And yet, we struggle… All the Stoics addressed the topic: “If you are ever tempte...

I love words and their definitions. I respect the ability to parse the nuances of meaning to effectively express oneself. And I, particularly, respect the ability to succinctly deliver an intellectual gut-punch as Marcus Aurelius does with the seven words of this title. And the nuance here matters so much. To be clear… Indifference is a Cancer . For the definition of Indifference , we turn to Oxford: lack of interest, concern, or sympathy Look around… indifference is everywhere. Horrible, ugly, indifference. The current state of politics, where few participate, and those that do, work to the benefit of some tribal subset of the populace is an obvious example. At this point, standards have been lowered to levels once unthinkable, yet so many can’t even be bothered to vote. Consider schools, where year after year, adults (parents, teachers, administrators, politicians) fail students. And all too often those students give up, indifferent to their own futures, assuming the ef...

I love quotes. They make you pause, make you think. A few words, maybe a few sentences, can sum up so much wisdom. One of great quotes regarding our potential as rational beings to manage our base emotions and gain the freedom that derives from our exerting control over our reactions comes from Viktor Frankl, the concentration camp survivor and author of Man’s Search for Meaning , which, if you have not read, you should walk away and go do so now. “Between stimulus and response there is space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” It’s a great quote. So great that you can buy the framed print, the coffee mug. But Frankl did not actually say that. There’s no evidence that it should be attributed to him at all. And, so what… It really sounds like something he would have said or written. It’s profound and true and wise people take wisdom from wherever they might find it. The greatest thing about the quote is that it ...