It is Well to be Flexible

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

Being flexible means the willingness to go a different path. It means finding a way around obstacles. If we can’t do something how do we find another way to that accomplishment. Maybe it’s not the grand idea in our head, but it is progress towards that idea. There’s no sense in railing against something that is immovable. Instead we find another way around for it.

I’m reminding of the movie Big Hero Six. A theme throughout the movie is to think of things from a different angle. If something isn’t working maybe there’s a better way.

Plato's View

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

I think today’s stoic is a step back moment. View everything around you and decide if this really matters. Some times the biggest issues can be petty and small when you take a much larger view of things. I feel like I’ve struggled with this the last few years in regards to my purpose in life. I see life and death. What’s it all really matter. Why shouldn’t I enjoy my time on earth. Is that becoming a rock star in my field or enjoying my friends and family? I think it is a combination of both. It’s doing the best with what we can today.

Driving is another example. I got cut off today. While I was initially annoyed is thought about the other person. What do they have going on in their life that they’re struggling with. Being cutoff meant very little in the grand scheme of things. I still made it to where I was going and early in fact.

The pandemic has dominated society the past few months. Initially I was angry at the response, now I see that my anger was misplaced. Now, I’m starting to see anger swing the other way as we start to reopen things. While it would be ideal for everyone to stay home there are people struggling outside of the pandemic. If things don’t open back up they will struggle more than the people we’re trying to save. Taking a broad view of things can bring compassion and understanding.

Always Have a Mental Reverse Clause

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

The reverse clause essentially is to deal with situations as the arise or if a misstep is taken we can do it better next time. I often think about how I can do things better next time. It’s helping and it’s also slow progress. Slow enough to be frustrating. I’d like to think that I am making progress. Often it feels like I’m running in place.

We Have But One Obligation

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

Be a good person. That’s it. The line between a good person and a jerk can be blurred. I’ve stopped checking social media regularly. It’s something I’ve done for over a year now and I can tell you I don’t miss it. I still check it every once and a while. It’s decreased since the pandemic. I’d check it once or twice a day. Now I go days without checking it because there’s a lot of toxicity. This toxicity, unfortunately, comes from people I respect.

The pandemic is an emotionally charge thing. It has brought out the good in people and also the worst. When talking about phishing emails I talk about the amygdala being hijacked by an attacker. The same thing has happened for people on social media talking about the pandemic. When I do check my feed, I see a lot of hate towards other people. It’s not from the people you would expect. It’s from the people who have taken the pandemic to heart. I see very mean things being said and retweeted about those who won’t wear a mask.

Research aside, I don’t see compassion from people who think they’re doing the right thing. They believe that their view, the scientific and good person view is the only view and those other people are awful. It’s really disheartening, because it’s coming from people I respect. It makes me feel for those people. It also highlights that while we might think we’re doing the good that we’ve succumbed to our own passions and desires for other people instead of trying to be understanding and view the other side. That is what makes us a good person.

Working Hard or Hardly Working?

I am blogging everyday (or nearly everyday) on The Daily Stoic.

Evaluate what I’m doing:

What are you doing?

Why are you doing it?

Where accomplishing it will take you?

If I don’t have a good answer stop. I’d like to try this on a few things.

What are you doing? Video games.

Why are you doing it? Relax and socialize with friends.

Where will it take me? Building stronger relationships with others.

What are you doing? Reading The Obstacle is the Way

Why are you doing it? Self-improvement

Where will it take me? A stronger self. Learning to deal with daily struggles.

What defines a good answer? I feel like I can always find the good out of anything. Maybe that’s the point though. Finding that good answer. That purpose. I’m probably manipulating the where a bit. I think the where should be where in life. Video games won’t take me anywhere career wise. Reading a book will. I do play video games with people from work. I’m building stronger relationships there by doing an activity together. That’s not to say non-work people can’t provide value as part of my network when I’m looking for a job or hiring someone.