This morning I was reading from Daily Stoic in which Ryan Holiday breaks down the passage by referencing Icaromenippus. In this story, Menippus copies Icarus and flies up to the skies. Many argue that this story is the first record of someone writing about traveling to the moon in Western records.
Regardless I see something much more important.
It is easy for us to get caught up in the minor and tiny(and often very irrelevant and unimportant) details of life. This little blips on the map of life can consume us to the point where they cloud our rational thought. We begin to make decisions based on emotion, rather than well being.
When we take time to step back, pause, reflect, and remember that we but a speck on the orb of life our issues and concerns don’t seem to serious or impactful.
Take time to pause before making decisions. Take time to think with loved ones before having tough conversation.
More importantly take time for yourself. To realize that we have but a short amount of time here on this planet and to spend it worked up on minor little infractions is not the quality of life worth living.
Step back. Soak it in. Remember our place in the world and go forth with the courage to make the right decisions. Courage is a choice as is perspective.
If interested I wrote each day to my basketball players based during the season on the readings of Stoicism called M.T.X.E. for Your Mind Volume 1
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