Did you know that a lot Chapter Three in It’s Not As Bad As You Think is based around one quote I came across in Meditations?

What’s even more shocking is that it wasn’t even a quote I noticed during my first time reading it. Let alone my second or third. After six times, I read these words written by Marcus Aurelius:

“To watch the courses of the stars as if you revolved with them. To keep constantly in mind how the elements alter into one another. Thoughts like this wash off the mud of life below.”

If you’ve had the opportunity to read the chapter Reality Is a Rough Draft, you might notice a similarity with the strategy of zooming out on ones problems. I’ll hold off on telling the story just in case any one of you haven’t read it yet, but this quotation symbolizes the very idea of zooming out of your life to gain a better perspective on the very things you’re afraid of.

In Marcus’ case, he explains that whenever your mind is trapped in the stress of life, zoom out to a type of cosmic perspective. To look down and notice the ever-changing world around you to see that whatever it bothering you is temporary. That everything is in the process of becoming something new.

To put yourself in this type of perspective will inevitably wash off the anxiety you’re feeling because when you realize it’s not your problems that matter, but your perspective, you gain peace.

Until next time,
Isaiah Taylor

Dive Deeper

What I’m Currently Reading - I’m still reading Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod. A bestselling book on the perfect morning routine that you should adopt all before 8am.

Quote Of The Week - “A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.” — George S. Patton