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When was the last time you sat down to think? The last time you just took some time to slow the pace and think about you and life. I think we get caught up in our lives so much and rushing about that we don’t really think about ourselves. I have posted in the past about feeding your soul and the journey is more important than the destination. I think this is more as a call to action and reminder than anything else. I am sitting on a Sunday morning with a cup of tea, listening to calming music and it is bliss.

Marcus Aurelius wrote a piece called Meditations. This book is full of wisdom about life. I feel that I can really connect with his thoughts. He wrote: “When you arise in the morning think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love …” and this is exactly how I view life from first dawn. Another quote is: “You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.” and this reminds me that I control my actions and I will not allow the environment to dictate how I will react. There are so many pearls of wisdom from Marcus Aurelius and you can find these calming thoughts at http://www.goodreads.com/author/quotes/17212.Marcus_Aurelius

In the overall concept of his book, I like how he thought of three principles to help guide us:
1) Take time to find moments of serenity – no matter how busy one is, you have to take time to reflect. Now I think I am a busy person; however, I have never expanded an empire, fought formidable foes, ran an entire administrative system over a region called Europe/Africa/Middle East…if he could find time, I am sure I can find moments of time to reflect
2) Understand those around you – look at the people who you encounter. Who do you respect, appreciate and admire and ask yourself why. Understand what they hold that you think are important qualities and pull those traits towards you. You do not want to be them because they already exist but you need all the help of the different traits that resonate around you to build you. For those that you see that don’t appeal to you, don’t pull those towards you but view it from a distance and understand what they do and why you don’t want to pull those traits towards you.
3) Finally vision the future – taking the moments of serenity and the people around you, take that on the journey to help guide you where you need to go one, two or five years. It is important to continually reflect and find the moments of serenity to continually help guide you and keep meeting people and understanding who they are and how they got to where they are.

I read all this and realized that I had figured this out and it was just a great reinforcement for me to know I am on the right path. It takes time but all you have to do is dedicate half an hour to sit quietly. It could be with a blank paper in your hand, a note book or lap top and to write about your day and ask yourself what significance this all had. Talk about the people you met, the things you saw and the situations you encountered. Now go and build your empire!

“Look well into thyself; there is a source of strength which will always spring up if thou wilt always look.”