{"id":9139,"date":"2020-08-16T13:55:55","date_gmt":"2020-08-16T17:55:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dailystoic.com\/?p=9139"},"modified":"2020-08-16T13:56:23","modified_gmt":"2020-08-16T17:56:23","slug":"this-is-the-perfect-time-to-ask-this-question","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailystoic.com\/this-is-the-perfect-time-to-ask-this-question\/","title":{"rendered":"This Is the Perfect Time to Ask This Question"},"content":{"rendered":"

Now, unlike any other moment in recent memory, we are being forced to reevaluate things. We\u2019re looking at our jobs, at our finances, at the places we live. We\u2019re looking at so many of the systems that have been set up, whether they\u2019re governmental or cultural or familial. We\u2019re having to ask questions about why they are what they are, how they\u2019ve held up under the immense pressure and stress of this global pandemic.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

You can imagine <\/span>Marcus Aurelius<\/span><\/a> doing a bit of this himself. <\/span>He too experienced a plague<\/span><\/a>, and was forced to spend years far from Rome with the army. There, in his tent, he sat with his journal\u2014<\/span>the pages that would become <\/span>Meditations<\/span><\/i><\/a>\u2014and he had a conversation with himself.\u00a0\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

One of the best passages survives to us and is worth applying to our own lives right now under similar stress and uncertainty:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cMost of what we say and do is not essential,\u201d he writes. \u201cIf you can eliminate it, you\u2019ll have more time, and more tranquility. Ask yourself at every moment, \u2018Is this necessary?\u2019\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

There has never been a better time to go through your life and ask yourself about all the things you do and say and think, \u201cIs this necessary?\u201d \u201cIs this essential?\u201d \u201cWhy am I doing this?\u201d \u201cWhat would happen if I changed?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

How much or how little you work. Where you live. What your marriage or your relationships look like. The political policies you support. What you spend money on. What your goals are. <\/span>The way your schedule is arranged<\/span><\/a>. The things taking up room in your junk drawer…or the thoughts running through your head.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Most of what we do is not essential. Most of it is instinctual or it was foisted on us by someone else. Most of it isn\u2019t actually working for us. We might be better and happier if we changed. We might have more tranquility if we did less, as Marcus said.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

But first, we\u2019ll have to ask ourselves some tough questions and there is <\/span>no time like the present<\/span><\/a> to do that.<\/span><\/p>\n

P.S.\u00a0<\/i><\/b>This was originally sent<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/a> on August 17, 2020. Sign up today for <\/i><\/b>the Daily Stoic\u2019s email<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/a>\u00a0and get our popular\u00a0<\/i><\/b>free 7-day course on Stoicism.\u00a0<\/i><\/b><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Now, unlike any other moment in recent memory, we are being forced to reevaluate things. We\u2019re looking at our jobs, at our finances, at the places we live. We\u2019re looking at so many of the systems that have been set up, whether they\u2019re governmental or cultural or familial. We\u2019re having to ask questions about why […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[38],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nThis Is the Perfect Time to Ask This Question<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/dailystoic.com\/this-is-the-perfect-time-to-ask-this-question\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"This Is the Perfect Time to Ask This Question\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Now, unlike any other moment in recent memory, we are being forced to reevaluate things. We\u2019re looking at our jobs, at our finances, at the places we live. 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