I

July    6th

RISE    AND SHINE

“On those   mornings    you struggle    with    getting up, keep    this    thought in  mind—I  am  awakening   to

the work    of  a   human   being.  Why then    am  I   annoyed that    I   am  going   to  do  what    I’m made    for,    the

very    things  for which   I   was put into    this    world?  Or  was I   made    for this,   to  snuggle under   the

covers  and keep    warm?   It’s    so  pleasurable.    Were    you then    made    for pleasure?   In  short,  to  be

coddled or  to  exert   yourself?”

—MARCUS AURELIUS,   MEDITATIONS,    5.1

t’s comforting to think that even two thousand years ago the emperor of Rome (who was reportedly a
bit of an insomniac) was giving himself a pep talk in order to summon up the willpower to throw the
blankets off each morning and get out of bed. From the time we’re first sent off to school until we retire,
we’re faced with that same struggle. It’d be nicer to shut our eyes and hit the snooze button a few more
times. But we can’t.
Because we have a job to do. Not only do we have the calling we’ve dedicated ourselves to, but we
have the larger cause that the Stoics speak about: the greater good. We cannot be of service to ourselves,
to other people, or to the world unless we get up and get working—the earlier the better. So c’mon. Get in
the shower, have your coffee, and get going.