Blessed are the flexible so they shall not break

 We got together with family. We reminded ourselves what was important. We enjoyed the bounties of the Earth. Perhaps when we took the rolls out of the oven we noted, as Marcus Aurelius did in Meditations, the way the bread cracks open on top, a nod to nature’s inadvertence.


We counted our blessings and gave thanks.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Stoic insights from Sun Tzu '' The Art of War" that helped me master the 4 virtues of Stoicism

Image
As someone striving to live a balanced life, I often seek wisdom from various sources. Two teachings that have profoundly impacted how I approach challenges are Stoicism and Sun Tzu’s  The Art of War . These two might seem to belong to entirely different realms—Stoicism, rooted in ancient Greek philosophy, and  The Art of War  in military strategy. But as I’ve dug deeper, I’ve realized that the principles of Stoicism and Sun Tzu’s teachings overlap in remarkable ways. Both offer timeless insights on how to navigate life’s difficulties with strength, clarity, and resilience. One of the core virtues of Stoicism is wisdom—the ability to see the world as it truly is, with clarity and reason. I’ve found that this aligns deeply with Sun Tzu’s approach to strategy. In  The Art of War , Sun Tzu says, “Know yourself and know your enemy, and in a hundred battles, you will never be in peril.” This speaks to the power of understanding the external world and our inner workin...
Read more

Using The Buddhist "The Two Parable Arrows'' and Stoicism to get by..

Image
 The Two Arrows Parable and Stoic Wisdom In both life and sport, there’s a powerful lesson to be learned from the Buddhist parable of the Two Arrows. The story goes like this: A person is shot by an arrow, causing them immense pain. In their suffering, they are then struck by a second arrow. While the first arrow represents pain that is often outside our control, the second arrow symbolizes how we react to that pain. Our emotional response, our judgments, and how we allow it to compound our suffering. This story can be closely likened to Stoic philosophy, which emphasizes how our judgments about events, not the events themselves, determine our suffering. Life throws me challenges, much like the first arrow. But how I respond, whether with fear, anger, or frustration, can feel like the second arrow. Stoicism taught me that it is within my power to avoid the second arrow by accepting what is outside my control and focusing only on my reactions and mindset. Eishh, how I behave lik...
Read more

Stoicism, the Sublime, and Mastery: Lessons from Robert Greene for a Life of Depth

Image
  “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” – Marcus Aurelius Stoicism, the Sublime, and the Slow Journey to Mastery Lately, I’ve been thinking a lot about depth and what it means to live efficiently and meaningfully. In a world obsessed with speed, I’ve found myself drawn to something slower, quieter, and much older: Stoicism . And unexpectedly, I’ve also been revisiting the work of Robert Greene , especially his thoughts on Mastery and the Sublime . These ideas have become a kind of compass for me,   guiding me toward a life that feels more grounded and, oddly enough, freer. Stoicism, My Inner Citadel The first time I read Marcus Aurelius, I didn’t fully grasp it. “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” At the time, it just sounded cool. But the more life tested me with delays, disappointments, or just the quiet grind of everyday struggle, the more that quote started to mean s...
Read more