{"id":2420,"date":"2018-05-21T19:48:35","date_gmt":"2018-05-21T19:48:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailystoic.com\/?p=2420"},"modified":"2018-05-21T19:48:35","modified_gmt":"2018-05-21T19:48:35","slug":"whats-wrong-with-this-person","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailystoic.com\/whats-wrong-with-this-person\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWhat\u2019s Wrong With This Person?\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

When you inevitably get frustrated with someone today, remember\u00a0this line from Anthony de Mello<\/a>: “The question to ask is not, ‘What’s wrong with this person?’ but ‘What does this irritation tell me about myself?'”<\/p>\n

This question\u2014this pause and then reversal\u2014is an essential element of Stoicism. It goes back to\u00a0Epictetus<\/a>\u00a0who said that we are complicit in the offense anytime someone hurts our feelings or makes us upset. We are choosing to react to something. We have to remember that. We have to remember that we have the power, not them, that it\u2019s not the things they do that upset or offend us but our judgment about those things.<\/p>\n

The irritant is never the other person. It\u2019s always something within you.<\/p>\n

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