Marcus Aurelius always puts things well and succinctly. He doesn't tend to be as long winded as some of the other stoics.

But something I learned early on from his writing, in middle school actually, was from the quote I just shared.

𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘥𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳.

Do less. It mirrors what the kids say these days and for kind of similar reasons: Say less.

Angry, dysregulated people expend a lot of energy in the wrong ways.

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𝘏𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘥𝘰𝘮 𝘣𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘯 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘢 𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘰𝘧 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘪𝘱𝘭𝘦: 𝘚𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘯𝘰𝘵. 𝘐𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘥𝘪𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘢𝘳𝘦. 𝘐𝘵’𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘺𝘰𝘶, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴. - Epictetus

𝘑𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘢𝘴 𝘯𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘰𝘣𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦, 𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘥𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘵, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬𝘴 𝘢𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘵—𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘧—𝘴𝘰, 𝘵𝘰𝘰, 𝘢 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘯 𝘦𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘴𝘦𝘵𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘢𝘸 𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘪𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘨𝘰𝘢𝘭.

𝘐𝘧 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘬 𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘥𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴. 𝘖𝘳 (𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘶𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺) 𝘥𝘰 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵’𝘴 𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘢𝘭—𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘺. 𝘞𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘣𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘰𝘶𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘴𝘧𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯: 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘰 𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘳. - Marcus Aurelius

𝘓𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘴 𝘣𝘦 𝘥𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘬𝘦𝘦𝘱 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘷𝘪𝘦𝘸. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘣𝘴 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘧𝘢𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘮𝘢𝘥. - Seneca

Negativity is a CHOICE.

The way we think and feel can actually shape our reality. You can choose madness and anger or become self-empowered through greater awareness and knowledge of changing your beliefs and feelings.

It's a CHOICE that YOU CAN MAKE.

Negative minds full of fear and doubt only produce negative lives which can ultimately destroy your life and others. That should be obvious by now if you look at the world.

Choose wisely. Surround yourself with only that which uplifts you.

Whenever you choose to believe in, whatever helps you get through each day and find desire to get up each day and continue on is YOUR BUSINESS and NO ONE ELSES.

Your job isn't to convince other people of anything ... you CAN'T. They have their own realities as well and their own beliefs and crutches and that is THEIR BUSINESS. At this point in time ... you need to be strong for YOU and your loved ones.

Find those who believe as you do and want goodness and light and built up from there. ❤️

Always be your authentic self ... it is the best way to allow trash to take itself out and to attract the truest people into your life.

Don't worry about what you will lose by being whoever you are, the losses aren't as important as the gains.

Stay true❤️ You will find your people.

If you do not like realism

If you do not like people who focus on the balance of mind, body, and spirit

If you do not like emotionally regulated and mentally healthy people

If you prefer anger, madness, and reasonless living

If you think being angry makes you strong and you wear your rage like a cape

If you are an energy vampire

If you want to make everyone miserable because you are

If you live in fear and want everyone else to also

... stay out of my feed.

#MakeTheTime to read.

𝘖𝘯 𝘈𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘺 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘢 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘤𝘭𝘢𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘤 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘭𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘶𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘵. 𝘚𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘢 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯 𝘪𝘯-𝘥𝘦𝘱𝘵𝘩 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘴𝘺𝘤𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘰𝘨𝘺 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘷𝘢𝘭𝘶𝘢𝘣𝘭𝘦 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘪𝘵. 𝘏𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘴 𝘱𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭 𝘢𝘥𝘷𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘪𝘵.

http://www.sophia-project.org/uploads/1/3/9/5/13955288/seneca_anger.pdf

or

https://www.amazon.com/Anger-Lucius-Annaeus-Seneca/dp/B08BR84G7T

#SenecaSavesLives

𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘱𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥: 𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘰𝘳 𝘦𝘭𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵, 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘐 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘪𝘵 𝘪𝘴 𝘶𝘯𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘯, 𝘴𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘩𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘵, 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘮 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘧𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯; 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢𝘴 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘭 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴.

𝘚𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘮𝘢𝘺 𝘣𝘦 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦, 𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘤, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦, 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴; 𝘣𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘶𝘱𝘰𝘯 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘸𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘵𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘯𝘨𝘵𝘩 𝘵𝘰 𝘪𝘵. "𝘠𝘦𝘵 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩, 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘭𝘭 𝘰𝘶𝘵𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘬 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵. - Seneca

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘣𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘺 𝘮𝘦𝘯, 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘦𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘶𝘥 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘭𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘮𝘪𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘮 𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘴 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘴𝘪𝘣𝘭𝘦: 𝘯𝘰𝘳 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘶𝘱𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘦𝘭𝘰𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘮𝘦𝘯, 𝘛𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘴 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘶𝘴, 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘦𝘴𝘤𝘳𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺 𝘢𝘴 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 "𝘰𝘧 𝘢 𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘢 𝘨𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘥𝘪𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘴𝘪𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯."

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I will block anyone who brings negativity and emotional dysregulation into my feed. I always have, this isn't new, I am just stating this rule again.

DO YOU ... just don't bring your madness, anger, pessimism, and seetheposting into the garden I curate here on CoSo.

Reason, logic, kindness, and regulation are always welcome in my feed.

If all you want to do is set fire to everything then you're going to only create more problems for a lot of people who already have enough to deal with.

The world needs - and has always needed - grounded, emotionally regulated, spiritual, logical, and critically minded people, but it needs them no more than ever.

It needs communities of people who have the same understandings of openness, empathy, and what it means to be a healthy and balanced person who wants to help build things up, not tear them down out of anger, madness, vengeance, and other dysregulated and intoxicating emotions.

Choose your friends, family, and acquaintances wisely.

Angry people will ALWAYS be angry. You cannot reason with people who choose anger over all else. I'm not going to keep repeating what Seneca said about anger being akin to madness ... you can look up all that stuff. It's not your job to try and FIX or CONVINCE people who choose madness. It never was.

Your job is to be the best you can be for yourself and others. To protect yourself and those you love. To be strong, focused, sane, and well minded. Such people will always find each other. ❤️

5/

SelfNESS is key.

Many people think selfish and selfness are the same, they are not. Selfish is doing something for yourself at the expense of another. SelfNESS is doing something for yourself so you can be better for others. Focusing on your own needs and health is important if you're to be able to care for others and be your best for your loved ones.❤️

Focus on YOU, not on what other people are doing, saying, believing etc. You need to bolster YOURSELF in whatever way is best for YOU.

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For the 1000th time: you DO NOT NEED TO INTERACT WITH ANYONE OR ANYTHING that you see in your feed or anywhere else online. Mind your own business and focus on your own life, your own needs, and your own space to express yourself.

If something is too upsetting for you, ignore it. If something is too realistic for you, move on from it. If people are too negative and nasty and broken or dysregulated for you, let them go or ignore them.

Self care is IMPORTANT and more necessary than ever.

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I don't attack people for how they choose to go through life as far as coping mechanisms. If you're a hopeful person or an optimistic person that is 1000% your business and it has nothing to do with me or anyone else. As I am constantly saying ... DO YOU.

It is not something you have to justify to anyone and you don't need to argue with people about how they choose to move through the world or what mechanisms they use.

That includes NEGATIVE people and doombringers and seetheposters.

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Many people mistake realism for pessimism because it seems devoid of hope. Hope is a self deception and often usually a lie that people believe in because realism is too difficult to process.

Despite what you believe realism is not the same as pessimism, nor is it the opposite of optimism. It's a realistic view based on past and present evidence, critical thinking, logic, and the correlation of all of those things. It does not include self deception, delusions or preferred definitions.

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