When you wake up in the morning, notice how quickly your mind checks into its physical and psychological ailments. Back pain? Still there. Afternoon meeting to worry about? Still there. Troublesome financial situation? Still there.
Did you expect it to be different? If you look for them, there will always be difficulties to drag through your day.
All Days Are Challenging
Today, like most days, it will probably be too hot or too cold. Traffic will be terrible. Troubling events will happen in the world. Your colleagues and even family members may not see things your way, and you may experience some interpersonal conflicts.
Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius was a Stoic philosopher. He would say, “Nothing has to go right today for you to act with honor and character.”
To do the impossible and think only positive thoughts is not the answer. Quite the contrary, Aurelius advises in his ”Meditations,” “When you wake up in the morning, tell yourself: The people I deal with today will be meddling, ungrateful, arrogant, dishonest, jealous, and surly.”
Making the mindset adjustment that Aurelius advises, you are not battling with reality.
Of the disagreeable people encountered in any given day, Aurelius says: “They are like this because they can’t tell good from evil. But I have seen the beauty of good, and the ugliness of evil, and have recognized that the wrongdoer has a nature related to my own—not of the same blood or birth, but the same mind, and possessing a share of the divine.”
Everyone you will meet today, despite their poor behavior, does not differ from you. There is no need, Aurelius advises, for anger, hate, or conflict. Things may not go well, and things don’t have to go well for you to have a good day.
Others, like you, sometimes make a poor choice and, like you, have the power to make a better choice. Aurelius says:
“We were born to work together like feet, hands, and eyes, like the two rows of teeth, upper and lower. To obstruct each other is unnatural. To feel anger at someone, to turn your back on him: these are obstructions.”
Notice how reluctant your mind is to believe “we were born to work together.” Your fellow commuters seem to be in your way, and some of your colleagues seem to be obstacles.
No wonder the day has barely begun and you’re exhausted already.
