Wednesday
The morning text reminded me how a story about how Sir Isaac Newton’s school was closed down for two years and he was able to completely immerse himself in his own thought. It was during this period that he made his most significant discoveries, some people say that he may not have made his discoveries if he were learning at school rather than immersing himself in thought.
‘Mindfulness’ is a trending topic right now. Modern mindfulness finds itself rooted in Buddhist principles of meditation and becoming ‘in the moment’. The Stoic mindfulness is similar in nature but also advocates control of the mind through three practices:
- Asking yourself whether the situation is in your control or not?
- What with the stoic ‘sage’ do?
- Ask your self what resources you have to deal with the situation
To me, the advice of distancing your self from your initial impressions of things and not acting upon it is extremely valuable. By nature I am very considered under normal circumstance. However, extremes of emotions and impressions on situation often lead me to do things and more often say things that I don’t mean to. These extremes of emotion are not only directed towards the vehement tempers, but also during times of extreme joy too. I think that by asking your self the three questions above you are both pychologically distancing from the situation and postponing your response. The practice should help me immensly on the path to becoming a virtuous man.

