“There are three areas in which the person who would be wise and good must be trained. The first has to do with desires and aversions–that a person may never miss the mark in desires nor fall into what repels them. The second has to do with impulses to act and not to act–and more broadly, with duty–that a person may act deliberately for good reasons and not carelessly. The third has to do with freedom from deception and composure and the whole area of judgement, the assent our mind gives to its perceptions. Of these areas, the chief and most urgent is the first which has to do with the passions, for strong emotions arise only when we fail in our desires and aversions” Epictetus, Discourses, 3.2.1_3a

I need to use good judgement and control my passions in choosing my course to resist the power of the trump . No wasted energy but like an arrow to the bullseye.

“Erase the false impressions from your mind by constantly saying to yourself, I have it in my soul to keep out any evil, desire, or any kind of disturbance-instead, seeing the true nature of things, I will give them only their due. Always remember this power that nature gave you.” Marcus Aurelius, Meditations,8.9

I see the evil as the trump and republicans. I am slowly choosing to allow less time on them each day.

“What’s left to be prized? This, I think-to limit our action or inaction to only what’s in keeping with the needs of our own preparation…it’s what the exertions of education and teaching are all about-here is the thing to be prized! If you hold this firmly, you’ll stop trying to get yourself all the other things…If you don’t, you won’t be free, self sufficient, or liberated from passion, but necessarily full of envy, jealousy, and suspicion for any  who have the power to take them, and you’ll plot against those who do have what you prize…But by having some self-respect for your own mind and prizing it, you will please yourself and be in better harmony with your fellow human beings, and more in tune with the gods-praising everything they have set in order and allotted you.” Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.16.2b-4a

What kind of man might trump have been if he had followed this?

“I will keep constant watch over myself and -most usefully-will put each day up for review. For this is what makes us evil-that none of us looks back upon our own lives. We reflect upon only that which we are about to do. And yet our plans for the future descend from the past.” Seneca, Moral Letters, 83.2

I will start reviewing my day each night to see if I improve or failed to add a plus to my debit card. I wonder how that would work for the trump. Maybe he could follow this at 2 or 3 in the morning instead of sending out bullshit tweets.

“Ask yourself the following first thing in the morning:

What am I lacking in attaining freedom from passion?

What  for tranquility?

What am I? A mere body, estate-holder, or reputation? None of these things.

What, then? A rational being.

What then is demanded of me? Meditate on your actions.

How did I steer away from serenity?

What did I do that was unfriendly, unsocial, or uncaring?

What did I fail to do in all these things?”

Epictetus, Discourses, 4.6.34-35

I meditate, some  stretching, and write a Haiku. I also stand on my head and get a new perspective on life to start the day. Turned out to be good training for trumpland.

“Your principles can’t be extinguished unless you snuff out the  thoughts that feed them, for it’s continually in your power to reignite new ones…It’s possible to start living again! See things anew as you once did–that is how to restart life!” Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.2

Return my focus to the goals I wish to set for the new year. Improve myself and learn something new every day. Turn off the trump tweets.

“A podium and a prison is each a place, one high and the other low, but either place your freedom of choice can be maintained if you so wish.” Epictetus, Discourses, 2.6.2.5

I understand this one, I get it. You can make a choice to accept and make the best of a situation. Read “Courage Under Fire” by James Bond Stockdale.

In a perfect world trump would be taken off the podium and marched to prison where he would be free to make his choice.

“Pass through this brief patch of time in harmony with nature, and come to your final resting place gracefully, just as a ripened olive might drop, praising the earth that nourished it and grateful to the tree that gave it growth.” Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 4.48.2

Every morning I say I am grateful for “the earth, sea and sky. I picture sand on the beach, blue sky and waves rolling in with Lands End in the distance. Climate Change is real.