How to Stop Caring So Much and Live Better | The Wisdom of Marcus Aurelius

Kai
6 min readMay 7, 2023

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Do you ever feel like life is too hard and unfair? Do you ever get stressed out by things that are beyond your control? Do you ever wish you could change your situation or escape your reality?

If you answered yes to any of these questions, then you need to learn from Marcus Aurelius. He was one of the greatest Stoic philosophers and Roman emperors. He wrote a book called Meditations, which is full of amazing advice and insights. In his book, he shows how he used Stoicism to deal with his problems and challenges.

Photo by sebastiaan stam on Unsplash

Stoicism is a way of thinking and living that helps you stay calm and happy no matter what. It teaches you that the only thing you can control is yourself and that you should focus on that and not on anything else. It teaches you that you should not get attached to things that don’t matter, like money, fame, health, pleasure, pain, etc. These things are not good or bad by themselves, but only depend on how you see them. You should not let them affect your mood or your character.

Marcus Aurelius said: “The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts.” He also said: “Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” He knew that most of our problems come from our own minds and how we judge things, not from the things themselves. He knew that we can change how we feel by changing how we think.

He also said: “You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” He realized that we can choose how to react to anything that happens to us. We can choose to be angry or calm, to complain or to be thankful, to resist or to accept. He realized that we can use any situation as a chance to practice our skills and to grow as people.

He also said: “When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love …” He loved life and nature. He did not take anything for granted or waste his time on useless things. He lived with passion and purpose, doing his job and helping others.

He also said: “It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live.” He was not scared of death or anything else that could happen to him. He knew that death was natural and unavoidable and that nothing could harm his soul or his essence. He knew that he had lived well and done his best and that he had nothing to regret or worry about.

Marcus Aurelius was an awesome guy who faced a lot of challenges in his life. He was the leader of a huge empire that was always in trouble with wars, rebellions, and diseases. He was a dad who lost many kids when they were young. He was a thinker who had his own doubts and weaknesses. But he stayed cool, calm, and kind throughout his life. He was a true example of Stoic wisdom and goodness.

We can learn a lot from Marcus Aurelius and his philosophy. We can use his tips and tricks to deal with our own hardships without caring so much about them. We can learn how to be cool with things that are cool and not care about things that are not cool. We can learn how to live in harmony with nature and reason, and how to do good things in every situation. We can learn how to be happy and peaceful in a world that is often crazy and mean.

Here are some practical ways that you can use Marcus Aurelius’ philosophy in your life and live better:

  • Be aware of yourself. The first thing you need to do is to pay attention to your mind and notice what makes you upset. Is it a person, a thing, a word, a memory? What are you thinking about it? Is it true, helpful or necessary? How does it make you feel? How does it affect your actions? By being more mindful of your inner state, you can start to question and change your automatic reactions and replace them with more logical and positive ones.
  • Be thankful for everything. One of the easiest ways to improve your mood and outlook is to focus on what you have rather than what you don’t have. Every day, write down at least three things that you are thankful for. They can be big or small, simple or complex, personal or universal. For example, you can be thankful for your health, your family, your friends, your work, your hobbies, your food, your water, your air, your sun, your moon, etc. By doing this, you will train your mind to appreciate the good things in your life and not take them for granted.
  • Be cool with everything. Another way to reduce your stress and anxiety is to be cool with things that are not in your control or that are not important for your happiness. This does not mean that you should stop caring or trying, but that you should accept the reality as it is and not let your emotions or self-esteem depend on it. For example, if you have a goal or a project that you are working on, do your best to achieve it, but do not let the result define you or affect your peace of mind. If you succeed, be happy but not cocky. If you fail, be sad but not depressed. Learn from the experience and move on.
  • Be good at everything. The ultimate goal of Stoicism is to live according to nature and reason, which means to live according to goodness. Goodness is the excellence of human character and the source of true happiness. The four main goodnesses of Stoicism are smartness, bravery, fairness and chillness. Smartness is the ability to judge rightly and act accordingly. Bravery is the ability to face fear and overcome difficulties. Fairness is the ability to treat others nicely and kindly. Chillness is the ability to control one’s wants and urges. To be good at everything, try to act in every situation according to these principles and ask yourself: What is the smart thing to do? What is the brave thing to do? What is the fair thing to do? What is the chill thing to do?
  • Be calm with everything. A powerful tool to calm your mind and connect with yourself is calmness. Calmness is the practice of focusing your attention on a single object or activity, such as your breath, a word, a sound, a feeling, or a movement.

By doing this, you can quiet your thoughts and emotions and achieve a state of awareness and relaxation. Calmness can help you reduce stress, improve focus, boost creativity and increase happiness. To practice calmness, find a comfy place where you will not be disturbed and sit in a relaxed position. Choose an object or activity to focus on and try to keep your attention on it for as long as you can. If your mind wanders, gently bring it back to the object or activity without judging yourself. Start with a few minutes per day and gradually increase the time as you get more comfy with the practice.

These are some of the ways that you can use Marcus Aurelius’ philosophy in your life and live better. By following his example and his teachings,

Conclusion

Marcus Aurelius was an awesome guy who faced a lot of challenges in his life and overcame them with his Stoic philosophy. He taught us how to stop caring so much about what happens to us and more about how we respond to it. He taught us how to be cool with things that are cool and not care about things that are not cool. He taught us how to live in harmony with nature and reason, and how to do good things in every situation. He taught us how to be happy and peaceful in a world that is often crazy and mean.

We can learn a lot from Marcus Aurelius and his philosophy. We can use his tips and tricks to deal with our own hardships without caring so much about them. We can become more aware, more thankful, more cool, more good and more calm. We can become more like him: a smart, brave, fair and chill person.

We can become Stoic.

Thanks for reading this blog post. I hope you liked it and found it useful. If you did, please share it with your friends and family. If you have any questions or comments, please leave them below. I would love to hear from you.

Until next time, remember: When life hurts, stop caring so much about it.😎

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Kai
Kai

Written by Kai

Self-improvement blogger sharing practical insights and resources for unlocking your full potential and living your best life.

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