Hello and welcome to Navigate the day. It is episode 9. January 9th. 2003. For January, the month's main focus is clarity. Which is part of the discipline of perception.And the main theme of today's episode? What we control and what we don't. So I'm going to go ahead and jump into the.Quote for today. Some things are in our control, while others are not.We control our opinion, choice, desire, aversion, and in a word, everything of
our own doing.We don't control our body, property, reputation, position, and in a word, everything not of our own doing. Even more, the things in our control are by nature free, unhindered and unobstructed.While those not in our control are weak, slavish, can be hindered and are not our own. Epictetus.Enchiridion. 1.1 Dash 2. So the journal prompt that we have for today is if I don't control what happens to me, what is left?
I don't get to control what happens to me, so I guess what's left are my actions and choices. The world doesn't care about your past or your upbringing and circumstances. It won't play favorites.This leaves me with controlling my reaction to what I come to face with. How people feel about me or perceive me isn't within my grasp. I can, however, reframe how I see the situations I find myself in. I really need to figure this out. I
still feel directionless.I feel that learning more about how to accept what I can't control is also making me realize how much I am in control. Bittersweet as it may be, I'm realizing that I'm the one who decides how I'm affected by those around me.And by understanding what's within my control, I'm gaining clarity of the world as a whole.This provokes thoughts of how others are doing worse than me, and that we all have burdens that we must decide how we think about
them.I can't continue acting like the world is my rival that fights dirty.Society and Earth are now to get me. The world is just full of ups and downs and that's just the way it works.I control my reactions to a given wall or setback I met with. Unfortunately, I still sometimes give that control up to my emotions instead of giving myself a moment to step back
and breathe.Working on these prompts seems to be improving my ability to notice when it does happen at least, and that I believe is a step in the right direction.I need to appreciate the control that I do have because honestly, it's more abundant than what I can't control. If I look at the things I don't have control of, I still have the ability to ability to respond.I still have the choice to see and think about the event how I see fit.
This means everything can be in my control in one aspect or another if I choose so.Instead of lashing out at people for being people. Instead of allowing my past to dictate my future, instead I have the capability to make my environment better for myself and those I interact with on any level.I just need to be more on top of this in the future.I fear that I affect a lot of people in two negative a way just by my anger towards the world.
I think this is something that in the coming days and weeks is going to be a challenge and I'm as ready as I'm going to be for it. I want clarity and I don't want to keep hurting those I care about. So for me this is a necessary step to take in order to move forward. I don't have to be afraid of what I do and don't have control over.I live the life that I see and choose to give attention to.By focusing on my contribution to my environment and the
people in it.I create less of a possibility of being disappointed by the actions of others because I know I did what I can.And it gives me a chance to slow down and see things from their perspectives.I don't have to agree, I simply need to just try to understand for both our sakes. The things in my control cannot be stopped by outside forces.Which gives them more power than those that aren't in my control.Garbage in, garbage out.If we seek the bad in a situation, we will find it.
And if we seek the good, we'll find that.It's sometimes hard to see and measure our progress that that we're making when going through practices like this.I think at this point I'm kind of just crossing my fingers and hoping for the best and planning for whatever.And I know this was a short entry for for today. I've been noticeably, noticeably overwhelmed recently in a few areas of my life, and so I can't guarantee that all the areas that I'm working on will
get my full attention.With that being said, I have no plans on missing a day of these journaling prompts. So I'll be back here again tomorrow, sharing more of my thoughts on Stoicism and more of my thoughts on the journaling prompts.That's going to be it for today.Thank you for taking the time to listen to me ramble. Stay safe and until next time. I wish you the best and know you can handle the worst.Love you.