Little Chad was a shy, quiet young fella. One day he came home and told his mother he'd like to make a valentine for everyone in his class. Her heart sank. She thought, I wish he wouldn't do that! because she had watched the children when they walked home from school.
I am your teacher an you are learning in my school. My aim is to bring you to completion, unhindered, free from compulsive behavior, unrestrained, without shame, free, flourishing, and happy, looking to God in things great and small - your aim is to learn and diligently practice all these things. Why then don't you complete the work, if you have the right aim and I have both right aim and right preparation? What is missing?... The work is quite feasible and is the only thing in our power... Let go of the past. We must only begin. Believe me and you will see.
Once there was an old and very wise man. Everyday he would sit outside a gas station in his rocking chair and wait to greet motorists as they passed through his small town. On this day his granddaughter knelt down at the foot of his chair and slowly passed the time with him.
Ryan Holiday, The 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
First tell yourself what kind of person you want to be, then do what you have to do. For in this to be the case. Those in athletic pursuit first choose the sport they want, and then do that work. ~Epictetus, Discourses, 3.23.1-2a
Ryan Holiday, The 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Don't set your mind on things you don't possess and think how much you would desire them if they weren't already yours. But watch yourself, that you don't value these things to the point of being troubled if you should lose them. ~Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.27
