O

March   18th

IMPOSSIBLE  WITHOUT YOUR    CONSENT

“Today  I   escaped from    the crush   of  circumstances,  or  better  put,    I   threw   them    out,    for the crush

wasn’t  from    outside me  but in  my  own assumptions.”

—MARCUS AURELIUS,   MEDITATIONS,    9.13

n tough days we might say, “My work is overwhelming,” or “My boss is really frustrating.” If only
we could understand that this is impossible. Someone can’t frustrate you, work can’t overwhelm
you—these are external objects, and they have no access to your mind. Those emotions you feel, as real
as they are, come from the inside, not the outside.
The Stoics use the word hypolêpsis, which means “taking up”—of perceptions, thoughts, and
judgments by our mind. What we assume, what we willingly generate in our mind, that’s on us. We can’t
blame other people for making us feel stressed or frustrated any more than we can blame them for our
jealousy. The cause is within us. They’re just the target.