Sweating the Small Stuff & Influencing Others (22m) – Episode 057

Episode 057 looks at two Stoic topics: the first from Marcus Aurelius who wrote, “It is essential for you to remember that the attention you give to any action should be in due proportion to its worth, for then you won’t tire and give up, if you aren’t busying yourself with lesser things beyond what should be allowed.”; and the second from r/Stoicism, a post by EricHennigan, which started, “I was thinking about Epictetus’ reminder that some things are under our control and others not. If we push this idea really hard, there are many things that I might naively consider under my control, but which, when examined more closely are not. For example, thoughts randomly bubble into my mind and I do not control that. Emotions can overwhelm my rational faculties, causing me a temporary insanity. Many external factors control the direction of my life. The simple, naive, lowercase stoic advice seems to recommend that I not try to control things which I cannot. I think this interpretation would be a disastrous mistake.”

Listen to Episode  (22m, mp3, 64kbps)


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