# To live a good life... Created On: 11-04-2022 08:38 am Type: #note/literature📖 Tags: [[Stoicism (MOC)]] / [[Providence]] / [[Perception]] --- ## Literature >To live a good life: >We have the potential for it. **If we can learn to be indifferent to what makes no difference**. This is how we learn: by looking at each thing, both the parts and the whole. Keeping in mind that none of them can dictate how we perceive it. **They don't impose themselves on us. They hover before us, unmoving. It is we who generate the judgments - inscribing them on ourselves. And we don't have to**. >... >And why is it so hard when things go against you? If it's imposed by nature, accept it gladly and stop fighting it. > >– [[Marcus Aurelius]] ## Notes * Since there are a lot of themes here, I'm going to have to break these into smaller pieces * "If we can learn to be indifferent to what makes no difference" * We spend a lot of mental energy spinning cycles on stuff that simply doesn't matter * How many times have you been flustered or stressed by things that are completely outside of your control? * Then why do we worry? If I can't effect it or it lies outside of my control, does my worry or stress make that much of a difference? Do I need to waste time and energy on it? * We need to be more strict about what actually is important * [[Focus on what you control]] * "This is how we learn: by looking at each thing, both the parts and the whole" * Marcus' is prescribing a mechanism to "see things for what they are", to enable you to find indifference in your life, enabling you to focus on the broader picture of events and meanings. * This sentiment is the same as [[Seeing the forest for the trees]] * The idea being that we often focus on such low-level concerns that we miss the bigger picture * We need to continuously identify the difference between the forest and the trees; the parts and the whole * "They don't impose themselves on us. They hover before us, unmoving. It is we who generate the judgments - inscribing them on ourselves. And we don't have to" * [[Change is incapable of being good or bad on its own]] * Incredible overlap with [[There is no evil in things changing...]] * "And why is it so hard when things go against you? If it's imposed by nature, accept it gladly and stop fighting it." * #todo --- ## Reference(s) 1.