230203 What I learned in my studies this morning 3

I feel it coming.

The wild light of a new skin. 

Unstoppable me.

Thoughts:

Epictetus also teaches that anxiety is caused by wanting something outside of our control.

If I break the chains of external want, the ties that bind me to so much frustration, anxiety, sadness, and ire, what fresh world awaits me?

Peace and tranquility. Wisdom and sureness.

Stoic calm, especially in the face of tragedy, is not about not having emotions. It's not about feeling nothing. It's about acknowledging those feelings, accepting them, passing through them into a place where I can choose my action rather than unquestionably accepting their (almost always) overwrought and counter-productive demands.

Turning my focus inward, to those things I can control, is hard as hell. Given many decades of experience doing exactly the wrong thing, it's a hard habit to break. But I'm making progress. 

Today's Meditation:

Today's Music:

'Il cavalier di Spagna' - 'A Spanish Knight' from La liberazione di Ruggiero dall'isola d'Ancina by Francesca Caccini