Marcus Aurelius on turning what blocks you into help. From Meditations by Marcus Aurelius, about 175 AD.
Around 170, tribes from across the Danube broke into Italy. They burned one town and besieged Aquileia, the first invasion of Italy in about 270 years.
Marcus Aurelius had spent his adult life in and near Rome. In 23 years beside his adoptive father, he was away from him only two nights.
Now he spent most of his last years in army camps.
Marcus Aurelius spent most of his last years at war along the Danube, far from the life he had known in Rome. In his notebook he wrote that people can block his actions but not his intentions, because the mind turns each obstacle into help. His picture was a strong fire that burns whatever is heaped on it and rises higher.
A strong fire turns what is thrown on it into fuel. Practical advice: when something stalls you, ask what it lets you practice.
Well established · checked against 5 sourcesName one thing blocking you, and write down what it lets you practice.
“A coworker keeps stalling my project and I’m losing patience. How do I turn this into something useful?”
Use the Roadblock and the other 11 ideas of Meditations, a minute at a time.
Download on theApp StoreEvery idea is drawn from the public-domain text, and its names, dates and quotes are checked against the sources listed with it. The paintings are made for Counsel; they show the scene, not a historical record.
