Reject The Sense of Injury and the Injury Disappears

This is one of my favorite quotes. It's from Marcus Aurelius' Meditations and to me it is the crux of the Stoic Philosophy. It isn't saying not to feel injured, because there are times when we will feel injured, and that's okay. But we have to let that feeling go so that our feelings of injury disappears. It demonstrates that while we can't control the way we are treated by others, we can control the way we let them affect us...and we don't have to let them affect us.

I included this quote on the main page of my website because while it is a simple thought, the process is not at all. It is one of the most difficult things to do, to reject the Sense of injury. Justice is one of the Cardinal Virtues in Stoicism and when someone injures you, it violates that virtue, and yet Marcus Aurelius says we should just let it go. And I get it, we can't control how other people live, think or act, and if they are going to act in an unjust way, we should not allow it to interfere with our own well being. Justice, as a Cardinal Virtue, means that we have to act justly.

While being injured by someone has impact my life in a profound way, and has triggered my depression, I have to reject that sense of injury so that I can get back to living a good life. If I want to be who I am, I need to reject the Sense of injury that I feel. Because if I zoom out, the injury that I incurred (which I don't want to get into on this public of a forum...yet) does not actually affect the work I have to do. I am still able, physically, to do the work that needs to be done, but the injury shattered my sense of safety in parts of my life. I am afraid to fail and I am scared of the repercussions if I do. And while my own leadership style is a stark contrast to other leaders in my life, I need to learn that I can't project my own expectations for myself onto other people.

In the grand scheme of things, I have to learn how to let other people live their lives, and if/when that affects my life, all I can do is stay true to myself and live according to my own Cardinal Virtues. Living a virtuous life, if you ask me, is hard, but it's a cure for depression. I know it's easier said than done, but I'm trying to cure my own depression by finding ways to connect back to myself and live in accordance to my own virtues despite other people. It's a battle...but it's worth it.

Love you bros,