I am blessed to work with some the smartest, life-changing leaders in America. These are folks of very high education and significant accomplishment and I learn from them every week. They are in senior and stress-filled positions. And one word comes up over and over again.
Anxiety.
Of course anxiety would be prominent in the lives of people with responsibilities such as theirs. Despite their incredible accomplishment and record of success, the challenges they face can be anxiety-producing.
When this word appears during our sacred hour together, I respond with wisdom from Marcus Aurelius. “The Meditations” as we know them were never intended to be a book (but thank God they are)—they were simply reminders to himself about discoveries he had made about the way to live his life. I encourage every leader I work with to write and collect a similar set of truths for themselves. Marcus’ quote shows the amazing power within stoic philosophy.
“Today I escaped anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions — not outside.”
Marcus realizes that his anxiety IS. A. CHOICE. We do not “escape” anxiety—we drop it—because it was our decision to pick it up in the first place. Those clinically diagnosed with anxiety would be an exception to this rule, but for most of us, anxiety is a choice.
For the stoics, everything divides into things we control or things we do not. For the stoic, spending one minute of time—expending one ounce of energy—on things we can't control is a waste. It is summed up beautifully in the Serenity Prayer:
Grant me the serenity to
accept the things I cannot change,
the courage to change the things I can,
and the wisdom to know the difference.
Courage and wisdom lead to serenity. And we could sure use some serenity—especially in an election year.
What are you anxious about, right now? What productive action can you take to address it? If there is one, take that action. If it is beyond your control, drop the anxiety. The anxiety is yours. If you picked it up, you can choose to put it down.
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