Marcus Aurelius Meditations
Marcus Aurelius: Consider how many different things,…
Consider how many different things, whether they concern our bodies, or our souls, in a moment of time come to pass in every one of us, and so thou wilt not wonder if many more things or rather all things that are done, can at one time subsist, and coexist in that both one and general, which we call the world.
The passage follows a public-domain translation of Meditations. The reading beside it is ours.
A single moment contains more activity than we usually notice: your heart is working, thoughts are shifting, memories are surfacing, other people are making decisions, weather is moving, systems are operating. The world is vast enough for countless events to coexist without your understanding each one. This perspective can soften the need to make everything about your individual experience. The delay in your plan is one thread in an immense fabric, not necessarily a signal that the fabric has gone wrong. It also encourages humility. We cannot see the full chain of causes behind most things, so certainty and outrage should come more slowly. When life feels chaotic, widen the frame. You are not required to control every moving piece. You are required to handle your own small part with sense and decency. Today, step back from one personal frustration and place it in the larger reality around it.
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