This ancient wisdom from Marcus Aurelius may stop you from having a bad day when something bad happens.
In this episode, I talk about a quote by Marcu Aurelius and how to react when something bad happens.
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You have a choice when something bad happens to you, and that choice can have huge consequences. And that is the subject of today’s inspirational quote breakdown.
“You don’t have to turn this into something. It doesn’t have to upset you.” — Marcus Aurelius
Bad things happen. It’s a part of life, buy you don’t have to dwell on it or make it worse. I don’t know what context Marcus Aurelius spoke these words, but they may just save you from having a bad day.
Marcus Aurelius was a Roman emperor, who lived over two millennia ago. He was born about 121 AD and ruled during a wonderful time in Roman history. He is most know from his writing known as “Meditations” (Get a copy for yourself on Amazon.com here *https://amzn.to/3USB9NS). This collections of writings were just notes to himself and never meant to be published, yet the words have inspired millions. This is just one of the amazing quotes from that work.
So, what does it mean and how can it help us?
You see, humans tend to naturally assign meaning to events or things. And there is a natural inclination to assign a negative or non-progressive meaning. But it doesn’t have to be like that. You actually have a lot of control over this.
For example, if something happens to you, you have two choices. You can concoct some story that the bad thing happened because you are bad, unworthy, or have poor luck. Or you can choose a positive meaning, a neutral meaning, or no meaning. Let’s put this in perspective. Suppose you got cut off in traffic. You might think that people hate you, intentionally go out of their way to be mean, rude, and disrespectful of you. You might even take it as evidence that you are, in fact, inferior. But you’re not. And no matter what your goals are, those meanings or interpretations are NOT SUPPORTIVE. There is a better way.
A neutral or no meaning to that event might get you thinking that the person was in a hurry, didn’t mean it, or just wasn’t raised properly and that it more than likely had nothing to do with you as a person. And even if it did, it is more a reflection of them than of you. It just happened. It means nothing and changes nothing about yourself. Let’s look at that quote again,
“You don’t have to turn this into something. It doesn’t have to upset you.” — Marcus Aurelius
You must acknowledge that you have control. You can take the reins and choose a different outcome, and if you have to assign a meaning, you can choose something that supports your goals in life.
So, why do people naturally subconsciously choose meanings or interpretations that don’t support progression on their goals? Your subconscious mind is there to keep you safe and alive – that’s it’s role. And progression is usually associated with risk – risk of the unknown. So, to keep you down might mean you live longer. But your conscious mind wants to be happy and fulfilled, so safe sometimes won’t do. You must engage your intelligence and do something different. You must sometimes act counter to your subconscious intentions.
What to do?
Stop. Think. And make the conscious choice to take control of the narrative of the current situation and present it in a supportive light.
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- -Humans naturally assign meaning
- -You have control over the meaning
- -You can choose no meaning or a supportive meaning
- -You must sometimes act counter to your subconscious intentions
Books Mentioned In This Post*
Meditations by Marcus Aurelius
*These links contain affiliate links. If you use these links, you support promoting personal development concepts and ideas to others.
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