‘All of this has happened before and will happen again’ — Part I: Contentment
The above quote, inspired by the playwright J.M. Barrie’s line from Peter Pan, was popularised by in the reimagined Battlestar Galactica TV show. This series is taken from a collection of small personal notes.
‘Comparison is the death of contentment’
No one is thinking about you, your clothes, your car, or your house as much as you. Others looking at those things are doing so only to image themselves with those things — they are not thinking about you nor do they give you an iota of credit for having those things. Realising this, the desire to show off ought to decline.
Financial author Morgan Housel mentions “the most valuable financial skill anyone can have is not needing to impress other people” but concedes in the same interview that at a societal level, incentives will always been set up towards ‘how can (one) get other people’s attention’.
‘Be tolerant with others and strict with yourself’ — Marcus Aurelius
Stoicism is not about judging other people, but rather a personal philisophy for one’s own behaviour as opposed a moral ideology to enforce onto others. Let others be, focus instead on what is within one’s control: oneself.
I am reminded of Guru Arjun Dev Ji’s counsel:
ਸਤੁ ਸੰਤੋਖੁ ਦਇਆ ਕਮਾਵੈ ਏਹ ਕਰਣੀ ਸਾਰ ॥
सतु संतोखु दइआ कमावै एह करणी सार ॥
Saṯ sanṯokẖ ḏaiā kamāvai eh karṇī sār.
Practice truth, contentment and kindness; this is the most excellent way of life.
Sri Guru Granth Sahib, Ang 51