During discussion this past week my professor said something that resonated with me. In our discussion of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations, my professor said: “you can’t control the things that happen to you, but you can control your reaction.” This not only applies to the times where Aurelius ruled over Rome, but it can also be applied to a very modern setting.
As humans we are prone to going through spouts of adversity. These are major tests in our lives that show our character, grit, determination, and will. Those of us who become very apathetic to adverse situations are merely conceding; they are throwing in the white flag and giving up. Their indifference towards challenges leads to a lack of experiential learning and a starvation of character.
In order to truly resolve adverse situations we must be stoic and steadfast in emotional control. This means that we must be able to internalize our emotions and rationally decide to withdraw from both outbursts of extreme emotion or ignorant indifference. This can be quite challenging because it requires us to actively work at repressing negative emotions that occur during adversity. This is not to be confused with apathy! In this case we are choosing to repress feelings rather than being complacent ignorance.
With our ability to repress these emotions during adversity, we will then be able to actively seek out lessons and learning experiences from these situations. What we learn from this will not only allow us to withstand inevitable future adversity, but it will also enable us to reconcile with and be empathetic towards others issues.
Our actions may sometimes have an impact on others, but they will always impact ourselves. It is vital for us to be able to control our actions. An inability to control our own actions can and will have a negative impact on everyone we come into contact with.