T

July    1st

DO  YOUR    JOB

“Whatever   anyone  does    or  says,   for my  part    I’m bound   to  the good.   In  the same    way an  emerald

or  gold    or  purple  might   always  proclaim:   ‘whatever   anyone  does    or  says,   I   must    be  what    I   am

and show    my  true    colors.’”

—MARCUS AURELIUS,   MEDITATIONS,    7.15

he Stoics believed that every person, animal, and thing has a purpose or a place in nature. Even in
ancient Greek and Roman times, they vaguely understood that the world was composed of millions of
tiny atoms. It was this idea—this sense of an interconnected cosmos—that underpinned their sense that
every person and every action was part of a larger system. Everyone had a job—a specific duty. Even
people who did bad things—they were doing their job of being evil because evil is a part of life.
The most critical part of this system was the belief that you, the student who has sought out Stoicism,
have the most important job: to be good! To be wise. “To remain the person that philosophy wished to
make us.”
Do your job today. Whatever happens, whatever other people’s jobs happen to be, do yours. Be good.