I

May 14th

OUR WELL-BEING LIES IN OUR ACTIONS

“Those obsessed with glory attach their well-being to the regard of

others, those who love pleasure tie it to feelings, but the one with

true understanding seeks it only in their own actions.... Think on

the character of the people one wishes to please, the possessions

one means to gain, and the tactics one employs to such ends. How

quickly time erases such things, and how many will yet be wiped

away.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 6:51, 59

f your happiness is dependent on accomplishing certain goals, what
happens if fate intervenes? What if you’re snubbed? If outside events
interrupt? What if you do achieve everything but find that nobody is
impressed? That’s the problem with letting your happiness be determined
by things you can’t control. It’s an insane risk.
If an actor focuses on the public reception to a project—whether critics
like it or whether it’s a hit, they will be constantly disappointed and hurt.
But if they love their performance—and put everything they have into
making it the best that they’re capable of—they will always find
satisfaction in their job. Like them, we should take pleasure from our
actions—in taking the right actions—rather than the results that come from
them.
Our ambition should not be to win, then, but to play with our full effort.
Our intention is not to be thanked or recognized, but to help and to do what
we think is right. Our focus is not on what happens to us but on how we
respond. In this, we will always find contentment and resilience.