Meditations Opus 3

[1]My listener, if there be one thing of the utmost importance, it is to channel your anger and never let it control your mood. If someone is causing you to be angry, it is purely your responsibility to remain calm. If the thought of them causes anger to rise, dispel utterly those thoughts from your mind. However, if you have to deal with them in the moment, you must completely be at ease, completely untouched – and this can be done through understanding that you are at all times in control of yourself. Nothing should lead us into anger for it is the most poisonous of all the passions and therefore it is the most imperative to control. Once you show yourself to be angry, you reveal yourself as invested in what they think of you, but this is a waste of given attention. Show complete disinterestedness in the opinions and provocations of others to make your attention more valuable.

[2]Always state your intentions clearly and briefly to those you are dealing with, for it will rid the air of any tension and awkwardness. This becomes important when people have expectations of you(whether you will do this or that for them), and so revealing what you will do – and why - will eliminate any room for resentment they might have towards you.

[3]Remember, my soul, that lying in idleness is a symptom for having no goals, or method to achieve those goals. There is always someway that you can use your time to accomplish even a small piece of the larger task at hand.

[4]All instinct to hesitate, especially when it is guided by fear, is always because one is self-conscious and afraid of expressing themselves. One must listen always to their feelings and become aware of these times, and ask themselves if any of those fears are at all justified – and you’ll notice a pattern: they are usually left unjustified, but to us justified.