When You Speak
When you speak, say what is: truthful necessary kind
Maintain Your Focus
Does your stoicism tell in your actions and deeds unconsciously, like your biases and other principles? You ran a 10k race today and there were moments when it was too much, but you continued. Why didn’t you apply this to the people you met afterwards? Why retreat, even if you are feeling ill? What cost […]
Time Off From Stoicism
Wisdom: exercising your skills on the guitar and piano. Courage: entering a shop and speaking to the lady behind the counter. Justice: helping your wife in the garden. Temperance: stepping away from the computer. Today was a day off. Do you need a break from your stoicism? Marcus Aurelius would say all you need do […]
The Choice of Anxiety
Your wisdom was exercised by marking those student assignments. That was the positive. The negative: using stereotypes and shortcuts when you should open your eyes and just look. Expectations can overpower, particularly when some of your mind is occupied. Why is it occupied? Let it be free. Stay in the moment. The face of a […]
Where Is Your Temperance?
You find temperance the hardest of all four virtues. Why? It’s certainly true that there are many distractions around, your iPhone, the computer, all these things – they are designed to capture and hold your attention. Today, you took a shorter running route because a longer one was an indulgence. That was good. The thing […]
Who Are You Being Kind To?
Where does kindness extend? Presumably, it has no outer edge, hence ‘Every man is my brother; every woman is my sister.’ One of the exercises your mentor had you do last week was step away from your office chair and regard it from a third party perspective, as though you were still sitting in it. […]
The Four Virtues
Think about the four virtues. Wisdom Courage Justice Temperance You can arrange them on a compass-like diagram, with Temperance to the north, Justice to the east, Courage to the South, Wisdom to the west. Temperance is about regulating your pleasure. There is a strong drive to maximise it, but what does this gain you? What […]
To Myself 