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.