260112 What I learned in my studies this morning 6

Today's Meditation(s):

Meditations, 4.21 (Hicks and Hicks)

Follow Nature. Reason will lead.

Focus. On reality, right here, right now. 

Remember my goal. Aim for virtue.

Now layer in the Elephant and the Rider.

Emotion will lead. Impulse will lead. Passion will lead. Reason will backfill.

So how to fix this? The Stoics know sudden desires and whims can be overwhelming. And they know how easy it is to fall into the trap of self-justification after the fact. So they built into their philosophy methods to interrupt bad thought patterns and logical fallacies.

Take a longer view - will history care, will anyone remember?

Take the broader view - does this mean anything to the rest of the community, much less the cosmopolity?

Take a clearer view - am I adding assumptions to the facts? Am I letting my pride / anger / jealousy / envy / emotions run the show?

Simply asking the questions will sometimes be enough break the mental bonds which restrict me. Actually answering them with malice a forethought will dissolve the veil of more.

Making this habit will make it turn out well all the more often, through volume of nothing else....