In this opening passage of Book 12, Marcus Aurelius offers us one of his meditations. It reflects on the transient nature of life and the inevitability of death.
He reminds himself that everything, from the smallest moments to the grandest events, are part of a natural flow. A flow that must be accepted, not resisted.
These meditations serve as both a personal reminder and a universal truth.
The world will continue on, with or without us, and our time is but a fleeting moment in the grand order of things.
Aurelius’ thoughts here encourage a stoic acceptance of mortality. This urges us to focus on the present and live virtuously in the time we have.
Marcus Aurelius (Book 12 – Meditation #1);
“Everything you’re trying to reach—by taking the long way round—you could have right now, this moment. If you’d only stop thwarting your own attempts. If you’d only let go of the past, entrust the future to Providence, and guide the present toward reverence and justice.
Reverence: So you’ll accept what you’re allotted. Nature intended it for you, and you for it.
Justice: So that you’ll speak the truth, frankly and without evasions, and act as you should—and as other people deserve.
Don’t let anything deter you: other people’s misbehavior, your own misperceptions, What People Will Say, or the feelings of the body that covers you (let the affected part take care of those).
And if, when it’s time to depart, you shunt everything aside except your mind and the divinity within. . . . If it isn’t ceasing to live that you’re afraid of but never beginning to live properly . . . then you’ll be worthy of the world that made you.
No longer an alien in your own land.
No longer shocked by everyday events—as if they were unheard-of aberrations.
No longer at the mercy of this, or that.”
Do not be rocked my friends. We are in a battle for our spirits. Stay strong.
Thanks for reading. I wish you a very prosperous day. Renee
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