210611 What I learned in my studies this morning

Happy Friday, folks.
Birthdays and visits fill the

Weekend hours with joy.

Daily Stoic: 

It's simple: don't make things worse.  When I overreact, when I become emotional and lose control, I often do things I regret.

Fix this and I'll be well on my way to a better life . . . if only because I'm screwing it up less.

Today's Meditation:

From A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy

From A Guide to the Good Life by William B. Irvine 

Chapter 15: Personal Values — On Luxurious Living 

Pursuing wealth and having wealth are not the same thing.  If you have money, there is nothing wrong with that.  Doing things by which you can earn money is also acceptable. It's the misguided attempt to gain more than you need, at the cost of your serenity, that is a problem.

As usual, Stoics suggest practicing negative visualization to keep yourself prepared for any losses that you face.  Also, the prescribe practicing poverty and lack every once in a while (they mention monthly as a good schedule) to keep yourself from becoming dependent on a soft life.  Make sure that you are still capable of doing without so that, should misfortune befall you, you can weather the storm with composure.

Cynicism requires poverty. Stoicism does not.  The Cynics expected their adherents to live in poverty.   If you have wealth gained without harming others, that's fine.

Daily Shakespeare: