[Meditations] Learning from a 2,000-year-old Emperor: Mental Survival Tactics for Surviving the 'Battlefield' of the Workplace

Introduction: Even a Roman Emperor 2,000 Years Ago Worried Every Day

Have you ever felt like you were heading to a 'battlefield' when going to work every day?

My workplace is, even before the start of the day,
😫 unexpected troubles
😣 complex, tangled interpersonal relationships
😭 endless coordination tasks
one after another.
I am surely not the only one who, even when trying to move my own work forward, gets tossed around by the discord of those around me and ends the day with frayed nerves.

I spend my days searching for how to keep from losing myself amidst the rough waves that arise daily.

It was then that I encountered a certain 'diary' from 2,000 years ago and was deeply moved.

Its author was the Roman Emperor, Marcus Aurelius.
He was the opposite of a warmonger; he loved philosophy and contemplation. But he had to keep fighting against a harsh reality.

The 'Meditations' he left behind, written when he had no peaceful days as an emperor.
This time, while unraveling this work, I would like to share mental survival tactics for surviving the modern 'battlefield'.
☑️ People facing difficulties
☑️ People who feel like they are losing themselves while being chased by daily tasks
I have made this content for those who are trying to move forward even while feeling lost.

If you would like, please continue reading.

1. The Emperor was not a scholar living in an 'ivory tower'

Marcus Aurelius.
Roman Emperor.
Hearing that, you might imagine an emperor lost in thought in an elegant palace.

However, the truth was the exact opposite.

His reign was a series of difficulties, such as:
❌ an unprecedented pandemic (smallpox epidemic)
❌ an endless war
❌ the betrayal of his most trusted subordinates
❌ the death of his beloved family
The 'Meditations' he wrote during that time.

The original title means 'To Himself' in Greek.

This is not a book of lessons meant for others to read.
It is a cry of the soul and a diary, written solely to keep his own 'sanity' while in the blood-and-mud-covered front-line camps, during days when he felt like he was going crazy.

Doesn't just knowing that make you feel like there is a little bit of space created in our tense hearts?

I will introduce his survival tactics for how he continued to urge himself on what must be done without losing himself even in the extreme.

2. Mental Survival Tactics (1): Drawing the Boundary of Control

What Emperor Marcus valued most as a human being is the idea of thoroughly separating
"what you can control and what you cannot"
.

☑️ Other people's words and actions
☑️ Your reputation
☑️ Past troubles that have already occurred

He teaches that these are all the same as 'rain'.

Even if you yell at the rain, 'Why are you falling!', the rain will not stop.
He considers that to be a waste of time and nothing but a drain on energy.
The only things we can control are 'our own judgments and actions'.

This is the idea of'Stoic philosophy' that Marcus believed in.

⬇️ I wrote an article about the Stoic philosopher Seneca the other day

What do you do when an unreasonable event happens?

If a dishonorable rumor is spread about you, it is up to you whether you get angry and call it 'outrageous' or accept it as 'one event'.

It is the same even if there is discord in human relationships.
You cannot change the other person, but you can change how you interact with them.

This simple switch becomes the first step to building a 'citadel of the mind'.

This is a fundamental way of thinking that we in the modern age can apply immediately.

3. Mental Survival Tactics (2): Separating 'Facts' from 'Interpretations'

Marcus asserts that what causes us suffering is not the 'events themselves,' but our 'own judgments (assumptions)' about those events.

For example, when someone says something heartless to you.
Suffering arises because you think, 'I have been insulted (= interpretation).' From Marcus's perspective, that is merely the fact that 'the other person made a sound.'

If you respond to someone's rudeness with anger, you sink to the same level as them.

Your value should not be swayed by the 'waves' of others' evaluations, but should be as immutable as an 'emerald' shining within you.

Do not fly into a rage at any unreasonableness; calmly do what must be done.
Marcus's will is quiet but strong.
This is also something we can adopt.

4. Mental Survival Tactics (3): Immersing Yourself in the 'Present' Moment

We worry about the troubles of an unseen tomorrow and regret the mistakes of a yesterday that has already passed.

We tend to throw away the only time we truly possess: the 'present.'

But Marcus was different.
The 'philosophy of cherishing the present,' which could be called a precursor to mindfulness,"philosophy of cherishing the present"shines brightly for working professionals who lead extremely busy daily lives.

Focus on the customer in front of you, the document in front of you, and the conversation in front of you.

Set aside both the past and the future, and live this 'very moment' as sincerely as if it were the last day of your life.
By simply deciding to do that, wouldn't the noise that wears down our nerves be dramatically reduced?

Summary: There is a 'Fountain of Good' Within You

In his diary, Marcus told himself the following:

We sometimes stand on a harsh 'battlefield.'

But no matter how noisy the outside world may be, there must be a 'quiet sanctuary' within our hearts that no one can invade.

Take a few minutes every day to face yourself and have time to dig into your heart.

Isn't that what his 'Meditations' were, and what 'writing meditation' can be for us living in the modern age?

I feel that by touching Marcus's thoughts across time and space, I have been able to make philosophy my weapon.
Therefore, I want to face forward and walk through the entrance of my workplace again tomorrow.

And I hope that a calm fountain will spring forth within your hearts today as well.