Don’t waste the rest of your time here worrying about other people—unless it affects the common good. It will keep you from doing anything useful. You’ll be too preoccupied with what so-and-so is doing, and why, and what they’re saying, and what they’re thinking, and what they’re up to, and all the other things that throw you off and keep you from focusing on your own mind.
Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote1 that to himself more than 2,000 years ago. He goes on a few lines later:
“You need to get used to winnowing your thoughts so that if someone says, “What are you thinking about?” you can respond at once (and truthfully) that you are thinking this or thinking that. And it would be obvious at once from your answer that your thoughts were straightforward and considerate ones—the thoughts of an unselfish person, one unconcerned with pleasure and with sensual indulgence generally, with squabbling, with slander and envy, or anything else you’d be ashamed to be caught thinking.”
What if there was a screen on your forehead, and everyone could read your thoughts? Would you feel ashamed? Are they helpful or hurtful?
We all think things we shouldn’t: judgment, prejudice, envy, and desire, to name a few. It takes effort and courage to be honest with yourself and recognize these thoughts. I’m not at a place where I can stop them from showing up, but I can decide how they stay.
Take care, Kelly
Aurelius, Marcus. Meditations (Modern Library) (pp. 28-29). Random House Publishing Group.
Winnowing