The Discipline of Desire

All the happiness you are seeking by such long, roundabout ways: you can have it all right now …. I mean, if you leave all of the past behind you, if you abandon the future to providence, and if you arrange the present in accordance with piety and justice.

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 12.1

The Stoic discipline of desire is all about aligning your desires with the good.

At a first pass, this involves desiring to excel in what is up to us and embracing everything that is not.

We can go further, as the Roman emperor and Stoic Marcus Aurelius does, by reflecting on the virtues of piety and justice.

With piety, we can willingly accept what fate and fortune throw our way. Think of it as reverence or willing acceptance of the state of things. Our very desires can be molded so that we embrace whatever occurs.

Meditate on the mantra:

“Let things come, let them be, and let them go.”

With justice, we can make excellent decisions in any circumstance we’re presented with. The discipline of desire involves setting the target of being an excellent person. With the discipline of action, we follow through. As Marcus Aurelius says elsewhere:

In all that you do, make sure that you do not act at random, or otherwise than Justice herself would act.

Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 12.24

Justice and piety, in the present, are all one needs.

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Each letter includes one meditation on Stoic theory, one action to do to become more Stoic, and the best resources I’ve found for practicing Stoicism.