Yes, It Snowed Again…
Daily Meditation — 4/4/2022
Personal Meditations, ed. I
I live in a place called the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. We are the Canada of the USA.
As such, we get snow. A lot.
Even as a kid, I remember one year where I think we still got snow into the first week of June.
It’s sort of ironically humorous to me…
Almost everyone here is in a constant state of complaining about winter and snow. To me, this makes as much sense as a swamp hag crying about living in a swamp.
What if Yoda’s teaching of Luke was interlaced with bitching about the damp chill or creeping vines or mucky water all over Dagobah?
The meditation is about two things:
1. That we choose nearly everything in our lives
2. Gratitude Mindset/perception (of course — when don’t I talk about these?)
We choose nearly everything in our lives:
In the immortal words of Donald Trump, “It’s true.”
Whether we like it or not, the cleanliness of our sheets, our attitude, our car we drive, our job, how intelligent our kids become, our weight, food, attractiveness, competence/mastery, future, income, and where we live…
All these are things we pretty much choose.
I’m already prepared for the naysayers on this one.
“But, Lucas,” I already hear the exclamations from the invisible crowd of followers I don’t have, “we don’t choose our attractiveness…”
Sure you do.
Attractiveness is of course a complex matrix of infinite factors, least of all the fact that 50% of the equation is someone else finding you attractive.
What could be attractive to others? Eating well. Being financially stable. Showing you’re a good parent who’s raising considerate and moderate children. Being in reasonable physical condition. Reading. Showing you’re interested in your future and have goals.
And so on.
Attractiveness is comprised of meta-choices. Nearly every aspect you can control, except perhaps your bone structure…
And even then, being a healthy weight can largely negate what some may perceive as less attractive.
What I’m saying is you choose way more than you think…
And anyone out there saying they don’t believe this is avoiding responsibility in the world and shielding their ego.
What can you NOT choose?
Same as what I discuss in my Daily Meditations and “YouDaimonia: the Ancient Philosophy of Human Flourishing:”
If it breathes, thinks, and has a soul, you cannot choose for it or control it in any way at all…
I.E. — literally every other person.
You can change your perception of yourself, appreciating your body, level of intelligence, choice of career achievement, how you’ve raised your kiddos, or that you think you eat well and are a good person.
You cannot truly change how you are perceived by others. If someone else thinks you’re fat, then that is their perception and whether they are right or wrong is entirely irrelevant. If they think you are stupid, a peon, a terrible parent, or that you’re a slob and are a malevolent person, well guess what…
Maybe they’re right?
Maybe they’re wrong?
But either way, it’s really none of your business what others think!
You need to choose everything in your life…
So choose to understand you don’t control others nor their perceptions. Heck, choose to think I’m off the mark with this and call me a slur (or choose to hit the “follow” button!).
Understand you choose everything and that you’re responsible for it.
If you don’t think you choose nearly everything in your life, stop and look around you — from your within-arms-reach computer desk Kleenex/lotion to your own name, you choose it all.
Disagree? Let me know in the comments.
I’ll be adding part deux tomorrow!
Follow for daily philosophical meditations.
These are distillations from my coming book “YouDaimonia: the Ancient Philosophy of Human Flourishing.”
