“The proper work of the mind is the exercise of choice, refusal, yearning, repulsion, preparation, purpose, and assent. What then can pollute and clog the mind’s proper functioning? Nothing but its own corrupt decisions.” Epictetus, Discourses, 4.11. 6-7

Choice- to stand up and take action

Refusal- allow anger to cloud thought

Yearning-not what should have been, but what is

Repulsion- of lies, distortion of truth and misinformation

Preparation- be ready and not surprised at any tactics used

Purpose- to fight at every step of injustice

Assent- know what is in my control and what isn’t

“A person who doesn’t know what the universe is, doesn’t know where they are. A person who doesn’t know their purpose in life doesn’t know who they are or what the universe is. A person who doesn’t know any one of these things doesn’t know why they are here. So what to make of people who seek or avoid the praise of those who have no knowledge of where or who they are?”

Universe is the ocean, we are the fish. Trump and Republicans are the island of plastic garbage we are now in.

“Let all efforts be directed to something, let it keep that end in view. It’s not activity that disturbs people, but false conceptions of things that drive them mad.” Seneca, On Tranquility of Mind, 12.5

The end being only 4 years of Trump with Elizabeth Warren as 46th President. A new progressive Democratic Party that fights for the working class and poor.

“All you need are these: certainty of judgement in the present moment; action for the common good in the present moment; and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.”  Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 9.6

Control my perceptions: This is really happening in the United States of America.

Direct your actions properly: persist and resist

Willingly accept what’s outside your control. Do what I can to fight  against the asshole,s that have control of this country.

“How many have laid waste to your life when you weren’t aware of what you were losing, how much was wasted in pointless grief, foolish joy, greedy desire, and social amusement- how little of your own was left to you. You will realize you are dying before your time!”

Saying no to things that don’t matter. Still feel the swell of anger every time I see or hear Trump. Clicking on the articles about his transition team and the choices being made on Facebook, I open the door and walk in. How much of my time am I going to allow this asshole to control. Of course I have committed myself to 366 days writing here. Set this time to deal with this and cut out rest of the day. That is what I hope do. I will take control and say no only on my terms.

“What is the fruit of these teachings? Only the most beautiful and proper harvest of the truly educated-tranquility, fearlessness, and freedom. We should not trust the masses who say only the free can be educated, but rather the lovers of wisdom who say that only the educated are free”     Epictetus, Discourses, 2.1.21-23a

A lot of bullshit flooded social media during this campaign. Most to backup Trump’s lies. It did not matter to his followers as truth meant nothing. They were not all uneducated so why did they vote for him? I know why the Republicans have been going after public schools with charter schools. Again the uneducated are easily led. It hasn’t happened everywhere yet so why Trump.

So I will continue to learn by reading and listening to a variety of ideas and philosophies. I can only hope that the educated are truly free.

My constant state of anger, shock, disbelief, frustration, embarrassment,  loss of control and despair that gets pumped through my veins every time my heart beats since Trump was elected 2016. I seemed to have left out depression which holds hands with anger. This is going on 5 days and they are all still with me. I need to get a handle on this.

Tim  Ferriss introduced me to Stoicism through his blog and I have been reading the writings of Seneca, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius. This I have decided is what I will use to handle the next 4 years. I will being using the book The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman.  It goes day by day with 366 meditations  to work.

As you can tell I’m not a writer. This will be an experiment for me to express myself other to just say “Fuck all the people that voted for this worthless piece of shit and his minions” Whew, that did feel good to write. Anyway I will start tomorrow. If this helps others good and if it just makes you laugh then also good.

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