The brain and muscles must develop simultaneously.
Iron nerves with an intelligent brain - and the whole world is at your feet.
-Swami Vivekananda-
You are naked against the world. Two things are within your control - the education of your mind and the strengthening of your body. All else is relegated to fate.
But these two - mind and body - are yours to improve. Neglect either and you will suffer disadvantages. Care for both and you have so much the advantage.
Neglect the education of your mind and you will fail to reach your full potential, restrained by false beliefs and ignorant to truth you will be but a shadow of your true, educated, potential self.Care for the mind and you gain insight upon insight until things that previously seemed left to chance, because of ignorance, are now subject to your mastery because of your understanding.
Like an ancient Mariner, learned in reading the stars, the waves and the weather, you will travel confidently towards your destination, while others will struggle in vain, confused and overwhelmed because their own ignorance hides from them the path to success.
Decide what you need to know - and learn it. You are now more capable and more opportunities are open to you.
Neglect to care and strengthen your body and you will be shackled by your own ill health, unable and too unwell to take advantage of opportunities that require your energy, stamina and strength.
Care for the body and find the world changed. Each morning is brighter, your sleep more sound. Your confidence, attitude and sense of self-empowerment increase. Your strength lets you reach heights unattainable to others whose bodies were unequal to the demands of the day.
This idea is at the heart of stoicism - focus on the things you can control and give no unnecessary attention to the things you can't.
This idea is a foundational principle for peace of mind and a feeling of empowerment in your individual life.
This idea is represented in the stoic who strives to civilize his mind and make savage his body. This man has Stoic Strength.
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Consider how you came naked into this world, your body weak and incapable, your mind unlearned and ignorant of all knowledge. You were unable to care for your own needs, knowing nothing, and unable to take action having no control over your own body.
Consider now how much you have learned since birth. Your knowledge has increased exponentially. You know and comprehend things previously not even within the scope of your imagination. Knowledge of people places and things, facts, skills and perspectives are now yours.
Your body has learned to crawl, now walk, now to run, climb, jump, lift. Effortlessly you can now complete tasks at which you consistently failed. Your hands have learned fine skills. When you once colored in wild strokes all across the page making something indiscernible you can now form the detailed shapes of letters in a straight line.
Consider finally that this process can be repeated. You are yet a child in regards to your future potential. How much have you learned already? You can learn that much again. Consider how much strength and control you have gained over your body. Can you not still learn new skills? Things you have never done before? And learn mastery where there is now only stumbling attempts.
That spark of life, hidden within a seed, that urges it to push out of the soil and flower, is within you also. In infancy it was there, pushing you to learn and do new and difficult things. It is within you still. Surrender to it and there is no limit to your potential. There is only progress.
Stoicism has a surprise cameo in 'The Lego Movie, the Second Part'.
You may be familiar with the title song from the first Lego Movie, "Everything is Awesome' which is basically a musical expression of the main character's view of life - and all of the awesome things it includes.
His overly-simplistic optimism and a large dose of naivety end up getting him through the day...but in the sequel things get so bad, even Emmett, the eternal optimist loses hope and starts to despair. And hope gives way to nihilism...
'Everything's not awesome, everything's not cool"
'What's the point? There's no hope - awesomeness was a pipe dream'
And then, just when everyone is about to give up, succumb to doubt and despair and disappointment because everything isn't awesome after all, like they had all hoped, stoicism shows up to save the day:
]]>“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts: therefore, guard accordingly, and take care that you entertain no notion unsuitable to virtue and reasonable nature.” ― Marcus Aurelius