Gratitude (Introduction)

Cesar reportedly had a slave to remind him of his mortality. Stoicism suggest we approach every action, every decision as if it were our last. Photo source: The Daily Stoic Store

Of Fronto, [I have learned] how much envy and fraud and hypocrisy the state of a tyrannous king is subject unto, and how they who are commonly called ευπατρίδαι, i.e. nobly born, are in some sort incapable, or void of natural affection.

—Marcus Aurelius

I know you, my theoretical readers, have noticed I don’t blog religiously. A lot of my blogging is playing catch-up, copying what I have written for other publications into this solitary reliquary.

What I do, or try to do, religiously is journal. That’s right, on paper. I’ve found using electronic journaling leads to focusing on minutia at the expense of more important matters. I can jot down a bullet point if something is important enough and then review those jottings to keep my focus on what matters.

Part of my journaling practice involves meditating on what I am grateful for each day. I focus on two things first thing in the morning as part of my wake-up transition. I also leave room for one more to be discovered in the course of the day. That way I am reminded to always be on the lookout for something to be grateful for. As Marcus Aurelius said, “The quality of your life depends on the quality of your thoughts.”And I want the quality of my thoughts to guide me toward gratitude and tranquility...as well as financial success. Those three goals are not mutually exclusive. According to Maslow, they are linear and dependent.

I first read Aurelius either late in high school or early in college. I’ve kept a copy of his Meditations with me ever since. As a stoic, he believed that we should be grateful for everything that happens to us—good, bad, and indifferent.

We don’t know if a thing is good or bad when we experience it. We can only make that determination in hindsight, once we look back and see its effects. For example, a friend of mine developed sever stomach pains. It turned out she had an ulcer. But in diagnosing the cause of the pain, her doctors found out she had picked up a parasite on a South American vacation a couple of weeks before. The parasitic infestation was not advanced enough to cause symptoms, but the ulcer enabled them to find it before it started doing irreparable damage to her organs. Her ulcer, painful as it was, turned out to be a good thing.

Thinking about that, I realized I should publish my gratitude on this blog in the unlikely event that someone will find it interesting or useful. I will start with today’s three items and incorporate future and past items as I can.

Penny and Carlton often make us go,“Awwww.” Photo by: Suna

Today’s Gratitude

Suna’s company

Until she retires, we are maintaining separate residences. She lives in Austin half-time and at the ranch with me the other half. I really appreciate her company when she is here. I also appreciate her absence when she is gone because it reminds me how much I enjoy the time I do get to spend with her.

The Daily Stoic

This podcast reminds me that everyone faces trials and tribulations. These rough patches can be prepared for and are not so upsetting if you teach yourself to expect them. It taught me that I have always tried to live a semi-stoic lifestyle. Like Buddhism, stoicism is a practice, not an accomplishment.

Carlton and Penny

These two have been exceptionally sweet today. They made Suna and I both go, “Awwww” many times.