“W

February    29th

YOU CAN’T   ALWAYS  (BE)    GET(TING)   WHAT    YOU WANT

“When   children    stick   their   hand    down    a   narrow  goody   jar they    can’t   get their   full    fist    out and start

crying. Drop    a   few treats  and you will    get it  out!    Curb    your    desire—don’t    set your    heart   on  so

many    things  and you will    get what    you need.”

—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 3.9.22

e can have it all” is the mantra of our modern lives. Work, family, purpose, success, leisure
time—we want all of this, at the same time (right now, to boot).
In Greece, the lecture hall (scholeion) was a leisure center where students contemplated the higher
things (the good, true, and beautiful) for the purpose of living a better life. It was about prioritization,
about questioning the priorities of the outside world. Today, we’re too busy getting things, just like kids
jamming their hand down a jar of goodies, to do much of this questioning.
“Don’t set your heart on so many things,” says Epictetus. Focus. Prioritize. Train your mind to ask: Do
I need this thing? What will happen if I do not get it? Can I make do without it?
The answers to these questions will help you relax, help you cut out all the needless things that make
you busy—too busy to be balanced or happy.