“Enough of this miserable, whining life. Stop monkeying around! Why are you troubled? What's new here? What's so confounding? The one responsible? Take a good look. Or just the matter itself? Then look at that. There's nothing else to look at. And as far as the gods go, by now you could try being more straightforward and kind. It's the same, whether you've examined these things for a hundred years, or only three.”
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 9.37
July 8, 2021 7:00 AM
Marcus Aurelius' note to himself is so profound. We gain nothing when we waste our time and energy whining about life.
"Nonetheless, character – the willingness to accept responsibility for one’s own life – is the source from which self-respect springs."
- On Self-Respect by Joan Didion
If you're feeling as if your life is not going as expected, your plan to correct it should be starting now (not on Monday or this weekend). Right now! Why are you waiting? Go!
Conclusion
"To live without self-respect is to lie awake some night, beyond the reach of warm milk, the Phenobarbital, and the sleeping hand on the coverlet, counting up the sins of commissions and omission, the trusts betrayed, the promises subtly broken, the gifts irrevocably wasted through sloth or cowardice, or carelessness."
- On Self-Respect by Joan Didion
It's time to be serious and that time is now.