My wife and some friends planting cordgrass.
For me, so many thoughts start by picking up a book. In this case, it's from picking up a blog I had started a while back but just didn't finish. Sometimes the words just can't be found and it takes time for them to come. At any given time I have maybe 5-6 blogs started. Unfinished until I can find exactly what I'm trying to say, and if I really believe it. Ironically, it delves into peace of mind. Although only an excerpt from a much larger work, here's a post from Seneca about peace of mind. I have italicized parts that after some thought have really struck a chord with me.
The first step to peace of mind is to be confident of yourself and what you believe. This requires us to avoid the knee-jerk reactions we have when something unfortunate happens in life. Too often we give up on our own aspirations. This then spirals out of control and we become hesitant of starting something new. This is how we become one of the dreaded “Joneses”. You know them: they’re the ones whose job or failings have left them soulless. They can’t tolerate looking inward. They’re never at rest. They constantly complain of boredom, and are jealous of those who progress.
The first step to peace of mind is to be confident of yourself and what you believe. This requires us to avoid the knee-jerk reactions we have when something unfortunate happens in life. Too often we give up on our own aspirations. This then spirals out of control and we become hesitant of starting something new. This is how we become one of the dreaded “Joneses”. You know them: they’re the ones whose job or failings have left them soulless. They can’t tolerate looking inward. They’re never at rest. They constantly complain of boredom, and are jealous of those who progress.
As Seneca says, “an unhappy sloth nurtures envy, and because they have themselves been unable to advance, they wish everyone else ruined.”
Be careful of vacations as well. No doubt that everyone should have a break from the activities they do, but to leave entirely for the sake of getting away from yourself is a fool’s errand. Eventually you’ll have to “come back”. You’ve seen this before. It’s usually expressed in the phrase of “back to reality” and life becomes nothing but a burdensome activity until you take another trip, another weekend out with friends, doing something, somewhere that distracts you from yourself. This is the life of a person who is unhappy with himself.
They go on and on looking for one adventure to the next, seeking an unknown “something” and indulging themselves until they can indulge no more until their years are bitterly spent and finally ask themselves, “How long can I live like this?” The answer is as simple as understanding that it’s not that life is useless and boring, if not that we have refused to deal with our own problems and shortcomings.
So, solutions? Luckily, there are many. As mentioned above, being confident of yourself and your path in life is one, another is doing what makes you feel alive and using it to help others. Seneca words it as “political activity and civic functions” but what he means is that we are to be useful for one another.
The above photo is an example. Last year, a group of our friends came with us to help restore estuaries in the Galveston Bay area. This didn't directly help us in any way, but by helping re-build estuaries, we helped the ecosystem. This allows shrimp, in particular, to nest before going out to sea which helps the local ecosystem improve and increases the flora and fauna of this area. This in turn allows higher catch yields for shrimpers and fishermen which equates to more food and jobs for others. Trickle-down effect in action.
Even in retirement, we can provide service to one another. Sure, we won’t be handling the labor intensive affairs of the country, but what we lack in ability, we have in experience. Teach our youth values and virtues. By doing this, we’re helping prevent future ruin. It may not seem like much, but it’s necessary for our survival. Even the janitor, at the most basic level, is preventing the spread of disease.
This brings us to another solution. Do whatever you can to the best of your ability and as virtuously as possible. Even the people who have found their fortune ruined for whatever reason can find their place in society. If a singer loses his voice, then apply the skill of song to a piano. If arthritis strikes him and he cannot play, then he can still teach. If he finds himself unable to teach, then at the very basic, he can be a good friend, honest person, and humble man. At the very least, we are capable of this, assuming all our mental capacities are about us. “The efforts of a good citizen are never useless; by being heard and seen, by his expression, gesture, silent determination, by his very gait he is of service…never can all pursuits be so blocked off that there is no room left for honorable action.”
Honorable actions lead to a great many things that help society out. Seneca talks about how Socrates stood up against the autocrats in Athens, and how freedom was held hostage. It’s hard to understand what he means, but we have a more modern example in Dr. Martin Luther King. Dr. King was not afraid of standing up to the social norms and laws of his time. He knew that they were wrong, and stood staunchly against it. He was not violent about it, but he did not hide when threatened, and he did not back down to fear.
If you have principles, stand by them. Don’t give them up for anything. Take them with you to the grave. Not doing so will mean the death of your soul. “The worst fate of all is to be stricken from the roster of the living before you die.”
Be careful of vacations as well. No doubt that everyone should have a break from the activities they do, but to leave entirely for the sake of getting away from yourself is a fool’s errand. Eventually you’ll have to “come back”. You’ve seen this before. It’s usually expressed in the phrase of “back to reality” and life becomes nothing but a burdensome activity until you take another trip, another weekend out with friends, doing something, somewhere that distracts you from yourself. This is the life of a person who is unhappy with himself.
They go on and on looking for one adventure to the next, seeking an unknown “something” and indulging themselves until they can indulge no more until their years are bitterly spent and finally ask themselves, “How long can I live like this?” The answer is as simple as understanding that it’s not that life is useless and boring, if not that we have refused to deal with our own problems and shortcomings.
So, solutions? Luckily, there are many. As mentioned above, being confident of yourself and your path in life is one, another is doing what makes you feel alive and using it to help others. Seneca words it as “political activity and civic functions” but what he means is that we are to be useful for one another.
The above photo is an example. Last year, a group of our friends came with us to help restore estuaries in the Galveston Bay area. This didn't directly help us in any way, but by helping re-build estuaries, we helped the ecosystem. This allows shrimp, in particular, to nest before going out to sea which helps the local ecosystem improve and increases the flora and fauna of this area. This in turn allows higher catch yields for shrimpers and fishermen which equates to more food and jobs for others. Trickle-down effect in action.
Even in retirement, we can provide service to one another. Sure, we won’t be handling the labor intensive affairs of the country, but what we lack in ability, we have in experience. Teach our youth values and virtues. By doing this, we’re helping prevent future ruin. It may not seem like much, but it’s necessary for our survival. Even the janitor, at the most basic level, is preventing the spread of disease.
This brings us to another solution. Do whatever you can to the best of your ability and as virtuously as possible. Even the people who have found their fortune ruined for whatever reason can find their place in society. If a singer loses his voice, then apply the skill of song to a piano. If arthritis strikes him and he cannot play, then he can still teach. If he finds himself unable to teach, then at the very basic, he can be a good friend, honest person, and humble man. At the very least, we are capable of this, assuming all our mental capacities are about us. “The efforts of a good citizen are never useless; by being heard and seen, by his expression, gesture, silent determination, by his very gait he is of service…never can all pursuits be so blocked off that there is no room left for honorable action.”
Honorable actions lead to a great many things that help society out. Seneca talks about how Socrates stood up against the autocrats in Athens, and how freedom was held hostage. It’s hard to understand what he means, but we have a more modern example in Dr. Martin Luther King. Dr. King was not afraid of standing up to the social norms and laws of his time. He knew that they were wrong, and stood staunchly against it. He was not violent about it, but he did not hide when threatened, and he did not back down to fear.
If you have principles, stand by them. Don’t give them up for anything. Take them with you to the grave. Not doing so will mean the death of your soul. “The worst fate of all is to be stricken from the roster of the living before you die.”
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