It's been a rough month:
• My grandfather passed away
• Almost my entire family got Covid at his funeral
• A client moved an Aug launch to March w/ 2 weeks notice
• Winter weather in TX left us w/o power. It was 54° in our house on Tuesday (with 2 young kids).

What'd I do?

The first thing I did, in each instance, was practice gratitude.
• I'm thankful he lived a full life of 91 years
• I'm thankful, that with one exception, every Covid case was mild
• The early deadline is a chance to showcase our teams' chops
• Good. An opportunity to step up.

Next, I fell back on a phrase that's become a cliché, but it doesn't make it any less true.

I reminded myself: "This too shall pass"

So many things we encounter feel overwhelming when we're going through them, but end up being a fond memory or a blip on the radar 5 years later.

Lastly, I revisited one of my favorite books, "Meditations" by Marcus Aurelius.

The book has become a bit of a meme because it's so often recommended, but, aside from the Bible, it's probably the book that has impacted my life the most.

Revisiting it helped me keep perspective.

At the time, Marcus was probably the most powerful person in the world.

The book consists of his private thoughts admonishing himself on how to be better, more just, more immune to temptation, and, generally-speaking, wiser.

Here are my 8 favorite quotes from the book.

On focusing on the process:

"Every hour of the day give vigorous attention to the performance of the task in hand with precise analysis, with unaffected dignity, with human sympathy, with dispassionate justice—and to vacating your mind from all its other thoughts."

On turning inward:

"When it is open to you, at any time you want, to retreat into yourself. No retreat offers someone more quiet and relaxation than that into his own mind."

This quote, in particular, helped me a lot this month:

"'It is my bad luck that this has happened to me.' No, you should rather say: 'It is my good luck that, although this happened to me, I can bear it without pain, neither crushed by the present nor fearful of the future.'"

Every time I get angry and want to yell, scream, cuss and stoop to my offender's level, I remind myself of this quote:

"The best revenge is not to be like your enemy."

On curiosity/seeking truth (i.e. basically my life philosophy):

"If someone can prove me wrong and show me my mistake in any thought of action, I shall gladly change. I seek the truth, which never harmed anyone: the harm is to persist in one's own self-deception and ignorance."

On controlling your emotions:

"It is the gentle who have strength, sinew, and courage—not the indignant and complaining. The closer to control of emotion, the closer to power. Anger is as much a sign of weakness as is pain."

On setting expectations:

"Say to yourself first thing in the morning: today I shall meet people who are meddling, ungrateful, aggressive, treacherous, malicious, and unsocial."

When you anticipate encountering these people, and you will, remembering this is helpful.

A constant reminder that life is precious and not to take it for granted:

"Imagine you were now dead, or had not lived before this moment. Now view the rest of your life as a bonus, and live it as nature directs."

Are all of these quotes 100% pertinent to this month's challenges?

No, not necessarily, but I'm glad that these challenges brought me back to "Meditations."

It was good to get centered and refocus on the things that matter most. If you haven't, I encourage you to check it out.

If you want to check it out, you can find my preferred translation here: https://amzn.to/2M2oOJK 

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