Modern Marcus: The Fifth Book

‘Don’t wallow in self-pity. Don’t lust after every new fad or gadget.
Don’t bitch and whine. Don’t be that person.’

1. Get out of bed!

Can’t get out of bed? Tempted by a duvet day? Tell yourself this: ‘I’m getting up to do my thing. To get shit done. No point being a wimp. It’s time to fulfil my potential and the duvet ain’t helping.’

‘Oh, but it’s so comfy and warm,’ I hear you say.

Really? I’m happy for you. But do you really think your place in the universe is to snuggle duvets rather than embracing all the world has to offer?

Look around you. Look at the sparrows, the ants, the bees, the plants even. They’re not wallowing in oh-dear-poor-me. They’re getting on with it, sparrowing, anting, beeing and planting all over the place.

That’s because they accept that they’re part of the whole interconnected universe around them.

‘But it’s natural to rest too,’ I hear you say (muffled from under the duvet no doubt).

Sure. But we all have a natural rest period just like we have a natural amount of food and drink we need each day. But you’re overdoing it. I bet you’re quick enough to set limits and stick to them when it comes to real work.

Do you hate yourself so much that you’re not willing to be the best you can be?

Find something you love, do it well, do it better every single day. Get this right and it’ll absorb you, pulling you out of bed at first light and dropping you back there with a smile on your face at the end of the day.

Importantly, it’s not about the money. This is about making the world around you a better place.

Get on with it.

2. Peace out

Once you manage to get rid of all the crap in your head, inner peace is child’s play.

3. You be you

If it’s correct, true and fair, you’ve got every right to say or do anything you damn well please.

Ignore what others say, tweet or post about you. If you’re doing the right thing, a bit of criticism doesn’t matter. Others will follow their own consciences. That’s not your problem. Your path and that of the universe around you are one and the same.

4. Until my last day

I’ll carry on doing the right thing until I breathe my last. After that, all the atoms that are part of me will return to the universe that supplied my father’s seed and my mother’s milk. I’ll become part of the same Earth that has fed and watered me, that has put up with my footsteps and endured my abuse.

5. Pull your finger out

So you’re not the sharpest tool in the box, so what? That’s no excuse.

Work on your strengths. Work on the things that you can control: honesty, sincerity, never giving up.

Don’t wallow in self-pity. Don’t lust after every new fad or gadget. Don’t bitch and whine. Don’t be that person.

Can’t you see that everything you’ve got going for you? Can’t you see that you can do so much more with what you’ve got? Don’t hide your talents just because they’re not the ones the media values the highest.

And if you want to work on your weaknesses, then work on them. There’s nothing there that can’t be improved if you’re willing to put in the effort.

6. One, two or three?

There are three types of people in the world. There are those that are quick to loudly demand repayment for every little favour. Then there are those that, while quieter, keep score in their heads and are only too aware of what they think they’re owed. Finally, there are those who never think about what they’ve done for others, it’s just how their worlds work. In the same way a bee produces honey, they help others. It’s no big thing.

Be that third type.

‘But shouldn’t I get credit for my actions?’ you say. ‘Isn’t that the rational thing to do?’

You’re not getting it. You’re just jumping into bed with the first two.

If you really get my meaning, you’ll never have to worry about failing to do the right thing just because you’re too busy looking for a reward.

7. Thou art talking bollocks

‘Hey Zeus, how about a bit of rain?’ If we’re going to pray, let’s keep it simple. No god is going to be impressed by your Shakespeare impression.

8. A tough pill to swallow?

So your doctor tells you to stay hydrated and prescribes a course of antibiotics. Fair enough. Of course, flip this round and we could say nature has prescribed some disease, disfigurement or disability. The former prescription is about making you better, the latter about fulfilling your destiny.

Think of it like a fine stone wall, all the blocks fitting neatly together to make something whole and solid. It’s the result of a series of events fitting together just so to deliver a certain outcome.

We might say, ‘So-and-so had it coming’ and yes, they did. Just as we accept our doctor’s prescription (even if the medicine tastes foul), we should also accept what the world serves up. It’s just part of the way of things.

In fact, there are two reasons why you should chill out about what happens to you. The first is that it is the inevitable result of a whole series of events seen and unseen that was always going to end at precisely this point in time. The second is that these events are part of the universe, and to change what’s happened to date is to break the whole (good luck with that).

So quit bitching about it.

9. You’re going to screw up

OK, so you’re trying to follow the whole Stoicism thing. Great, but every now and then you’re going to fall short (or even royally fuck it up).

Relax.

Simply go back to the core ideas, use reason as your guide and realise that most of your actions are those of a good person. If you love the ideas, don’t slink back like a naughty child who’s been told off. Return with a spring in your step like you’re being reunited with an old friend.

Don’t make some huge song and dance about it. At the end of the day, this is a philosophy that’s about you gaining the inner peace of someone who follows their best nature.

Now you might say, ‘Cool, so it’s all about what makes me happy.’

Well, yes, but watch out. There are a whole bunch of things that can make you happy on the surface, but you have to ask yourself, wouldn’t real happiness come from being free, kind, open and honest? Wouldn’t you be happier knowing what to do in any given situation?

10. Fake news

Can you ever really know anything for sure?

It seems we live in an age of fake-everything. Whatever you hear one week, is ‘disproved’ the next.

But back in the real world, aren’t we all fallible? Our experiences are fleeting, and there’s no end of scammers and conmen who are keen to pray on us. Ever those closest to us can become a bit of a pain. (In truth, who hasn’t tired of their own ridiculousness from time to time?)

With all this sound and fury, who should any of us pay attention to?

Surely it’s better to simply wait for our inevitable end without getting bent out of shape. In doing so, consider two thoughts. The first is that things will happen as they happen (with very little influence from any of us). The second is that, if we so choose, there is no power on Earth that can make us act against our personal truths.

11. What’s your head up to?

‘What’s my mind up to — right here, right now?’

It’s a good question. One you should ask regularly.

Who’s really in control? A child? A tyrant? Some animal driven solely by instinct?

Who?

12. Leading the good life

When we talk about ‘goods’ what do we really mean?

These days, all too often we mean stuff — things that are bought and sold. The kind of stuff that, when we overindulge, leads to the old phrase ‘too much of a good thing.’

But if you think about ‘goods’ in terms of wisdom, courage, justice, doing the right thing, then having too much of a good thing won’t mean anything.

13. All just atoms

When it comes down to it, we’re all just made up of atoms. None of these will vanish when we’re dead (just as none of them magically appeared out of nowhere when we were born). They’ll simply be reused (upcycled even) into something else, and something else after that, on and on until the end of time.

It was the same for our parents, and theirs before them. It’s just the way things are.

14. Direct to the point

Reason will simply do its own thing. It’s got its own rules and ways. Once it gets going, you need to stand back and let it get on with it.

That’s why we think of the right course of action as ‘direct’ — it’s straight to the point and directs what we should do next.

15. Back to the core

Nothing can ever really belong to you that’s not core to your human nature. Nobody should expect anything else from you or claim anything else as your ultimate purpose in life.

If any of this external stuff was really core to who you are, you wouldn’t be strengthened by doing without it. Whereas, in reality, the more you can do without all that fluff and nonsense, the better you’ll feel.

16. Think better thoughts

Your mind is coloured by the kind of thoughts it has.

So try to give it the right kind of thoughts to work with. Such as, ‘It’s always possible to live right’ — no matter if you live in a palace or out on the street.

Or how about, ‘Things tend to evolve to be suited to their ultimate purpose’? As humans, we’ve evolved as social animals. Living together in harmony is a big part of what we’re about.

17. This is nuts

To want the impossible is madness — yet many people can’t seem to do anything else.

18. Stupidity vs wisdom

Nothing will happen that you can’t handle.

You see others face the same problems as you and, either because they’re clueless or simply want to avoid embarrassment, they don’t let it get to them.

Surely you’re not going to let their ignorance outperform your wisdom?

19. Don’t let it get to you

Whatever shit’s going down in the world, it can’t truly get inside, affect or move the mind. That’s down to the mind itself. Ultimately, it’s the mind alone that judges the importance of what happens around it.

20. What obstacle?

We all want to play nice with others, be kind, show a bit of patience. But when those same others try to stop us doing what’s right, they become as indifferent to us as a breath of wind.

Of course, sometimes other people will stop you physically from doing something or other. But they can’t stop your mind. They can’t impede your will. That’s because your mind can get past any obstruction.

More than this, your mind can turn obstacles into objectives and use barriers as battering rams.

21. ’Nuf respect

Respect the forces that drive the universe. But know that those forces are within you too. You are part of the same whole.

22. Don’t lose it

If something doesn’t harm society, it can’t harm the individual.

So if you think you’ve been wronged, tell yourself, ‘If the community around me isn’t harmed, neither am I.’

But what if those around you are harmed? Don’t get angry at the culprit. Instead, help them understand where they got it so wrong.

23. Paddling in the river of life

Think about how often the stuff around you comes and goes in the blink of an eye. The great river of life is always flowing, always changing — nothing stands still. It flows from the infinity that lies behind us to the eternity that lies ahead.

When you think of it like that, it seems pretty silly to worry and rage. It’ll all be over soon anyway.

24. We’re all nothing

Add up all the time that’s ever been, all 13.8 billion years or so. Now work out your share of it. If you live to be 96 years old, it’ll be just 0.0000007%. Pretty much nothing.

25. Isn’t that their problem?

So, someone is an arsehole to me. So what? That’s their problem, not mine. I’ll just carry on doing my thing.

26. Sins of the flesh

Don’t let your body ambush your mind. Pain, pleasure, lust, whatever. Keep them separate.

Of course, this is easier said than done. But when your mind does engage with the flesh, accept what’s happening without getting all judgemental about it.

27. One

Be at one with the universe. How? Be at peace with who you are, be true to yourself, glory in your mind and reason.

28. Silent but deadly

Someone farts in an elevator, so what? Have you never let one go?

‘Hold on,’ you say, ‘surely they knew that it’d be offensive.’

Well aren’t you clever? And since you’re so smart, why not use your smarts to explain their error to them. But do so without getting all worked up about it, that’s for another kind of arsehole.

29. Check-out time?

It’s altogether possible to live on Earth as you’d like to in any imagined heaven. If others won’t allow it, you are perfectly free to take the shortcut and quit this whole living thing altogether. No problem.

But until then, don’t let anything or anyone stop you from living the life of your best self.

30. Forty-two

The universe is social. Interconnected. Everything is mutually interdependent. At its best, everything just works.

31. A retrospective

Looking back, how have you treated those around you — your parents, teachers, friends, lovers?

Can you honestly say you’ve never done any of them wrong?

Think about everything you’ve gone through in your life. As your time comes to an end, think of all you’ve seen, the pleasures, the pains, the honours you refused, the people you treated fairly (even when they didn’t deserve it).

32. Call yourself wise?

Why do idiots confound the wise? Maybe a better question is, who is really wise? When it comes down to it, only the person who can see how reason runs throughout eternity.

33. Waiting for the end

Pretty soon, you’ll be just ashes and dust. A name that some people remember perhaps. Perhaps not.

Everything that people set their hearts on in life is little more than stuff and nonsense. All too often we act like toddlers — laughing one minute, sulking another, then throwing ourselves on the floor in the supermarket when we don’t get what we want.

Decency and truth are nowhere to be seen. So why stay here when you know your senses are dim and easily fooled? When even a million social media likes mean absolutely nothing? What should you do?

Chill out. Keep calm. Wait for the end — whether that’s death or some form of transformation.

But what about until then? Do good to others (no matter how they act towards you) and remember: Whatever is outside your body and mind isn’t yours to own and owes you nothing at all.

34. Prosperity this way

Keep on keeping on, no matter what. Stay in control of your choices and actions and you’ll prosper on your terms.

Two things are true for every rational being. The first is that you can resist whatever stands in your way. And the second is that real happiness stems from doing the right thing.

35. Who cares?

If a wrong is not your fault and society doesn’t suffer as a result, who really cares?

36. No harm, no foul

Don’t get too dragged into others’ problems. Help where you can, but if they’re not really harmed, don’t pretend that they are.

Just because someone is crying over things that don’t ultimately matter, it doesn’t mean you have to join them.

37. Stay lucky

Some people are fortunate, they lack nothing that matters. They die knowing that they had the best temperament, the best impulses and the best behaviour.