“Waste no more time arguing what a good man should be. Be one.” Marcus Aurelius (Roman Emperor)
While the movie Gladiator may have popularized who Marcus Aurelius was, most aren’t aware that his writings were private journals that were discovered well after his death in 180 A.D. The first recorded mention of his Meditations was by Themistius not until 364 A.D.
That fact makes me read his quote above in a new light. You see, he wasn’t writing a book for others to read, he was writing to himself. He was journaling things that he had learned, that he wanted to avoid, what he wanted to become. He was instructing himself, not others. His writing was for his own learnings, his own reflections. In the above quote, he wasn’t arguing or telling other people what a good man should be. Rather, he was writing down ways he could be one himself.
He concluded that debating with himself only delayed and distracted him from actually doing what was good. Instead, he told himself to ‘be one’, to take action, to do the next right thing.
I often find myself in this same bind. Debating with myself over the next right move, when the best move is to take action. I often hesitate to take the next step until I completely over analyze the situation, when the best move is to walk forward with gut instinct and conviction.
In a sense, debating yourself is a resistance to doing good things. It’s a deliberate pause in taking immediate action toward what is right.
Ultimately, I’ve lived a lot of life.
I’m far from perfect, but I know the difference between right and wrong, good and bad.
And, so do you.
Taking immediate action in doing good is always the right choice.
Stop wasting time. Stop debating yourself. Reject the resistance. Act on what you know to be good and right without hesitation.
Embrace your purpose.
And do good to the world today.
