Welcome to The Stoic Ledger, a daily money meditation from one of the Stoic sages.

116/365: Marcus Aurelius on circumstances

We are the entity that ascribes meaning to circumstance. It’s not the event that is the emotion, but our interpretation of it.

Negative interpretations don’t change the circumstance. Anger will never make the stock market go back up because the market doesn’t care about our feelings. It’s pure circumstance, void of meaning. Again, we place the meaning and generate the emotion from our interpretation, our perception.

If circumstance continues to stir frustration deep in you, see the total emotional control you continuously hand over, how the reins to your life belong to someone else.