“Begin - to begin is half the work, let half still remain; again begin this, and thou wilt have finished.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
A Non-stoic Day
You drag into work twenty minutes late because your oldest kid couldn’t find her inhaler.
As you walk through the door you trip on the floormat, because the maintenance people never check to make sure those things are flat.
You walk down the hall and turn into your office and that guy you hate bumps into you and keeps walking without saying he’s sorry.
As you sit down the secretary comes by to ask you to donate to her kid’s jogathon. You feel heat rising to your cheeks as you pull out your wallet and hand her ten dollars, knowing full well that that’s ten fewer dollars you can send to pay down your mounting credit card bill. Just as you turn on your computer your boss shows up and wants to know what the status is on that report. He pointedly looks at his watch.
“It’ll be done when it’s done!” you snap.
His eyebrows raise and he walks away.
That could have gone better.
Now Try This
It’s time to leave. You can’t find your kid’s inhaler.
Can you skip it? No, because if she has an asthma attack she could die without it. So you spend twenty minutes and you find it. You ask yourself how this can be avoided in the future. You decide that from now on the school inhaler will go in the basket by the door. Lesson learned.
As you walk through the door you step over the folded floor mat, then you kick it flat. You tripped on it yesterday and learned your lesson then. Always check the floor mats. You remind yourself that maintenance is overworked and sometimes in their haste they don’t make sure those things are down. People complain all the time. They’ve asked for more help, but downsizing is downsizing… must be tough to be them.
As you walk down the hall that guy you hate slams into you.
“Hey Bill,” you call after him. He turns. “You have a nice day, buddy.” He knows…
As you sit down the secretary asks you for money for her kid’s jogathon. You think about it. It’s good to help kids fund their school, but you’re a bit short this month. You decide that you need to conserve money for your family; that’s the greater responsibility. That said, it’s a good reminder that you enjoy giving money to charity. Maybe next month.
“Sorry, I’m a bit short this month.”
She seems irritated. That must be tough, having to run around begging change for your kid. Whatever. Things to do.
Your boss comes by and looks pointedly at his watch. Since he hasn’t said anything you feel no need to explain yourself.
“What’s the status on that report?” he asks.
“Could I call you about that in ten minutes? I just want to make sure I’m giving you good information.”
“I need it now.”
“I’m pretty sure we’re just waiting on Bill’s stuff. I’ll email you in ten after I check, OK?”
“Well, OK.” He shuffles off to pester somebody else.
You smile to yourself and go about your day.
That’s Stoicism.
No comments:
Post a Comment