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June 23rd

THE LONG WAY AROUND

“You could enjoy this very moment all the things you are praying to

reach by taking the long way around—if you’d stop depriving

yourself of them.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 12.1

sk most people what they’re working toward and you’ll get an answer
like: “I’m trying to become a [insert profession].” Or they’ll tell you
they’re trying to get appointed to some impressive committee or position,
become a millionaire, get discovered, become famous, whatever. Now you
ask a couple more questions, such as “Why are you doing that?” or “What
are you hoping it will be like when you get it?” and you find at the very
core of it, people want freedom, they want happiness, and they want the
respect of their peers.
A Stoic looks at all this and shakes his head at the immense effort and
expense we put into chasing things that are simple and straightforward to
acquire. It’s as if we prefer to spend years building a complicated Rube
Goldberg machine instead of just reaching out and picking up what we
want. It’s like looking all over for your sunglasses and then realizing they
were on your head the whole time.
Freedom? That’s easy. It’s in your choices.
Happiness? That’s easy. It’s in your choices.
Respect of your peers? That too is in the choices you make.
And all of that is right in front of you. No need to take the long way to
get there.