The Philosophy of Everything

“Stop aspiring to be anyone other than your own best self: for that does fall within your own control.” -Epictetus

Worth remembering about the staple Stoic text that is Marcus Aurelius' Meditations is that it was not a book written for public consumption. It was a personal wartime journal Aurelius kept as a means of remaining grounded during the tumultuous periods he endured as Roman Emperor. The broad-reaching utility of its insights aside, the book itself presents a useful meta commentary on the value of knowing who one wants to be. Emperor for 19 years, there was no shortage of temptations to be who others wanted him to be. This journal of epithets to himself reminded him of what mattered, of who he wanted to be, and how he wanted to operate both as a leader and a human. What became known as Meditations was truly his own set of meditative principles that would inform all things. It was his own philosophy of self.

Demonstrated by Marcus Aurelius' efforts in capturing lessons to himself is an awareness of the following: If you do not decide who you are, it will be decided for you.

"Love only that which falls to you and is spun as the thread of your destiny; for what could be better suited to you?" -Marcus Aurelius

How often do we love only that which falls to us? It's far more common that we love that which falls to others. Our genetic makeup, our upbringings, our strengths, and our weaknesses—these are the things that were, as Stoic philosopher and once most-powerful-man-in-the-world Marcus Aurelius put it, spun for us (read: intended for us).

But sometimes we hate what’s spun for us—so much so that we may find the very notion of certain events being meant for or uniquely assigned to us offensive. That heartbreak, that trauma, that undesired physical attribute... It’s rare that we react to such things with contented acceptance. The beauty of this, though, is that if something was meant for us, we don’t have to be broken by it. We’re not somehow less because something just is. We’re simply playing our part and can continue doing so faithfully.