Enlightenment(רְאוּבֵן)
JUST DON’T MAKE THINGS WORSE“ How much more harmful are the consequences of anger and grief than the circumstances thataroused them in us!” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 11.18.8
The first rule of holes, goes the adage, is that “if you find yourself in a hole, stop digging.” This might be the most violated piece of common sense wisdom in the world. Because what most of us do when something happens, goes wrong, or is inflicted on us is make it worse—first, by getting angry or feeling aggrieved, and next, by flailing around before we have much in the way of a plan.
Today, give yourself the most simple and doable of tasks: just don’t make stuff worse. Whatever happens, don’t add angry or negative emotions to the equation. Don’t react for the sake of reacting. Leave it as it is. Stop digging. Then plan your way out.
Today, give yourself the most simple and doable of tasks: just don’t make stuff worse. Whatever happens, don’t add angry or negative emotions to the equation. Don’t react for the sake of reacting. Leave it as it is. Stop digging. Then plan your way out.
A TRAINED MIND IS BETTER THAN ANYSCRIPT
“In this way you must understand how laughable it is to say, ‘Tell me what to do!’ What advicecould I possibly give? No, a far beter request is, ‘Train my mind to adapt to anycircumstance.’ . . . In this way, if circumstances take you off noscript . . . you won’t be desperatefor a new prompting.”—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.2.20b–1; 24b–25
“In this way you must understand how laughable it is to say, ‘Tell me what to do!’ What advicecould I possibly give? No, a far beter request is, ‘Train my mind to adapt to anycircumstance.’ . . . In this way, if circumstances take you off noscript . . . you won’t be desperatefor a new prompting.”—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.2.20b–1; 24b–25
Enlightenment(רְאוּבֵן)
A TRAINED MIND IS BETTER THAN ANYSCRIPT “In this way you must understand how laughable it is to say, ‘Tell me what to do!’ What advicecould I possibly give? No, a far beter request is, ‘Train my mind to adapt to anycircumstance.’ . . . In this way, if circumstances…
It would be nice if someone could show us exactly what to do in every situation. Indeed, this is what we spend a good portion of our lives doing: preparing for this, studying for that. Saving for or anticipating some arbitrary point in the future. But plans, as the boxer Mike Tyson pointed out, last only until you’re punched in the face. Stoics do not seek to have the answer for every question or a plan for every contingency. Yet they’re also not worried. Why? Because they have confidence that they’ll be able to adapt and change with the circumstances. Instead of looking for instruction, they cultivate skills such as creativity, independence, self-confidence, ingenuity, and the ability to problem-solve.
In this way, they are resilient instead of rigid. We can practice the same. Today, we will focus on the strategic rather than the tactical.
We’ll remind ourselves that it’s better to be taught than simply given, and better to be flexible than stick to a noscript.
In this way, they are resilient instead of rigid. We can practice the same. Today, we will focus on the strategic rather than the tactical.
We’ll remind ourselves that it’s better to be taught than simply given, and better to be flexible than stick to a noscript.
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Enlightenment(רְאוּבֵן)
75 Day challenge is still going.
Go to gym
Never skip a day. Even one day.
Never skip a day. Even one day.
Enlightenment(רְאוּבֵן)
Go to gym Never skip a day. Even one day.
Well I just finished workout but I gotta meeting I need to attend to. (For the whole night)
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LIFE IS A BATTLE FIELD
“Don’t you know life is like a military campaign? One must serve on watch, another inreconaissance, another on the front line. . . . So it is for us—each person’s life is a kind ofbatle, and a long and varied one too. You must keep watch like a soldier and do everythingcomanded. . . . You have been stationed in a key post, not some lowly place, and not for ashort time but for life.”
—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.24.31–36
“Don’t you know life is like a military campaign? One must serve on watch, another inreconaissance, another on the front line. . . . So it is for us—each person’s life is a kind ofbatle, and a long and varied one too. You must keep watch like a soldier and do everythingcomanded. . . . You have been stationed in a key post, not some lowly place, and not for ashort time but for life.”
—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.24.31–36
Enlightenment(רְאוּבֵן)
LIFE IS A BATTLE FIELD “Don’t you know life is like a military campaign? One must serve on watch, another inreconaissance, another on the front line. . . . So it is for us—each person’s life is a kind ofbatle, and a long and varied one too. You must keep watch…
The writer Robert Greene often uses the phrase “As in war, so in life.” It’s an aphorism worth keepingclose, because our life is a batle both literally and figuratively. As a species, we fight to survive ona planet indiferent to our survival. As individuals, we fight to survive among a species whose populationnumbers in the billions. Even inside our own bodies, diverse bacteria batle it out. Vivere est militare.(To live is to fight.)
Today, you’ll be fighting for your goal, fighting against impulses, fighting to be the person you want tobe. So what are the atributes necessary to win these many wars:
Discipline
Fortitude
Courage
Clearheadedness
Selflessness
Sacrifice
And which atributes lose wars?
Cowardice
Rashness
Disorganization
Overconfidence
Weakness
Selfishness
As in war, so these atributes mater in daily life.
Today, you’ll be fighting for your goal, fighting against impulses, fighting to be the person you want tobe. So what are the atributes necessary to win these many wars:
Discipline
Fortitude
Courage
Clearheadedness
Selflessness
Sacrifice
And which atributes lose wars?
Cowardice
Rashness
Disorganization
Overconfidence
Weakness
Selfishness
As in war, so these atributes mater in daily life.
Enlightenment(רְאוּבֵן)
The writer Robert Greene often uses the phrase “As in war, so in life.” It’s an aphorism worth keepingclose, because our life is a batle both literally and figuratively. As a species, we fight to survive ona planet indiferent to our survival. As individuals…
I gotta say I love being Stoic.
I'm having a difficult time completing one project I'm working on.
The solution no matter what, I need to give it more time. So, as the plan of the 75-day challenge, no sleep tonight. Need to finish it early.
The solution no matter what, I need to give it more time. So, as the plan of the 75-day challenge, no sleep tonight. Need to finish it early.
Truth be told tele is my challenge. I mean the connection is so poor. Am in Bole right now but the connection men.
I wonder what would it be in KFC(Koye).😁😁
I wonder what would it be in KFC(Koye).😁😁
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TRY THE OTHER HANDLE
“Every event has two handles—one by which it can be carried, and one by which it can’t. If your brother does you wrong, don’t grab it by his wronging, because this is the handle incapable of lifting it. Instead, use the other—that he is your brother, that you were raised together, and then you will have hold of the handle that carries.”
—EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 43
“Every event has two handles—one by which it can be carried, and one by which it can’t. If your brother does you wrong, don’t grab it by his wronging, because this is the handle incapable of lifting it. Instead, use the other—that he is your brother, that you were raised together, and then you will have hold of the handle that carries.”
—EPICTETUS, ENCHIRIDION, 43
Enlightenment(רְאוּבֵן)
TRY THE OTHER HANDLE “Every event has two handles—one by which it can be carried, and one by which it can’t. If your brother does you wrong, don’t grab it by his wronging, because this is the handle incapable of lifting it. Instead, use the other—that he is…
The famous journalist William Seabrook sufered from such debilitating alcoholism that in 1933 hecomited himself to an insane asylum, which was then the only place to get treatment for addiction.In his memoir, Asylum, he tells the story of the struggle to turn his life around inside the facility. At first,he stuck to his addict way of thinking—and as a result, he was an outsider, constantly geting in troubleand rebelling against the staf. He made almost no progress and was on the verge of being asked to leave.
Then one day this very quote from Epictetus—about everything having two handles—occurred to him.“I took hold now by the other handle,” he related later, “and carried on.” He actually began to have agood time there. He focused on his recovery with real enthusiasm. “I suddenly found it wonderful,strange, and beautiful, to be sober. . . . It was as if a veil, or scum, or film had been stripped from allthings visual and auditory.” It’s an experience shared by many addicts when they finally stop doing thingstheir way and actually open themselves to the perspectives and wisdom and lessons of those who havegone before them.
There is no promise that trying things this way—of grabbing the diferent handle—will have suchmomentous results for you. But why continue to lift by the handle that hasn’t worked?
Then one day this very quote from Epictetus—about everything having two handles—occurred to him.“I took hold now by the other handle,” he related later, “and carried on.” He actually began to have agood time there. He focused on his recovery with real enthusiasm. “I suddenly found it wonderful,strange, and beautiful, to be sober. . . . It was as if a veil, or scum, or film had been stripped from allthings visual and auditory.” It’s an experience shared by many addicts when they finally stop doing thingstheir way and actually open themselves to the perspectives and wisdom and lessons of those who havegone before them.
There is no promise that trying things this way—of grabbing the diferent handle—will have suchmomentous results for you. But why continue to lift by the handle that hasn’t worked?
Enlightenment(רְאוּבֵן)
https://youtu.be/CJlOuHUNaVs
I really want to see the documentary. I have to give a lot of credit to Jah Pan Africanism, for the end of the slave trade in Ethiopia, but at the same time, Jah was celebrating his 40-year kingship when many people died because of hunger.
Funny story, the cake that I, the emperor, celebrated with was prepared in London, England. So when the plane arrived in Ethiopia, an accident happened and the cake broke into two. So the officials reseated the plane to London and brought another cake so Jah could celebrate his whatever thing. At the same time, in 1967 E.C., people died on the street because of hunger.
This is insanity.
I feel bad for his family because they go through a lot because of their name. Some of them executed, tortured but I personally can't say Jah was all good and all bad.
N.B.: Jah is Emperor Haile Selassie
Funny story, the cake that I, the emperor, celebrated with was prepared in London, England. So when the plane arrived in Ethiopia, an accident happened and the cake broke into two. So the officials reseated the plane to London and brought another cake so Jah could celebrate his whatever thing. At the same time, in 1967 E.C., people died on the street because of hunger.
This is insanity.
I feel bad for his family because they go through a lot because of their name. Some of them executed, tortured but I personally can't say Jah was all good and all bad.
N.B.: Jah is Emperor Haile Selassie