I'd like to think I would be a benevolent, kind and just ruler, but who am I kidding? I would be so busy fucking everything in sight and indulging in every substance known to man that I would never get anything done. I would be an utter scourge upon humanity until death by prostitute, overdose or a good ol' backstabbing did me in.

Judging by the history of our Politicians, that seems to be how things generally go. They all come in expecting to do some great good, then get lost; up to their dicks in excess. Except for one dude: Marcus Aurelius. He got thrown into the shit heap called politics, encountered every type of calamity you can imagine and came out of it as close to a perfect man as anyone ever will.

This fuckin' guy wasn't from some safe space college campus where he could preach from atop some high horse while still fucking and consuming everything in sight. He was a Roman goddamn Emperor from two thousand years ago. He had to deal with a hell of a lot more than finally booking that dentist appointment you've been putting off.

Plagues? Check. Wars? Check. Family constantly dying? Check. Thrust into a job he didn't want? Check. Limitless wealth and power? Check. And he took it all like a fucking champ. No complaining, No whining. Just doing his job. You can't even get up for work without bitching about how tired you are, while this dude begrudgingly ran the whole damn world.

I wonder what he thought about. What were the things that kept him up all night (besides legions of concubines). What did his mind wander to as he listened to some idiot complain or as he wiped out hordes of invading assholes. As it turns out, thanks to some pervy little fuck who decided to save the man's personal diary, we actually do know what thoughts popped up in between slaying foreign armies and spectacular roman orgies.

While your diary is full of entries on how you shit yourself on the bus or how you came in your pants the first time you touched a girl, his was full of how to be a man. Not just a man, the best goddamn man he could be despite the bullshit that constantly came to kick down his doors.

A diary comprised of 12 different books written over a decade away from home in the middle of a war. He muses on the character of everyone he's known, the qualities of who made him the shit kicker he was. He admonishes himself and everyone.

Like a fist full of truth delivered to the face of your shitty self control and whimsical nature, he exposes the profound truth of the universe, people and how it all fits together. Don't like something? Tough shit, deal with it. Lost someone? They were never yours. Unsure of what to do next? You already know, you just don't want to do it.

The most disturbing (and bad ass) thing about it, isn't what's inside. Most of this shit has been said time and time again by spiritual yahoos and self-help charlatans, though in a much gentler tone. What is so insane, is he had no intention for anyone else to read it. It was all to him, by him. And two thousand years before you were even popping boners.

Can you imagine sitting down and writing something to yourself like:

In the morning when thou risest unwillingly, let this thought be present- I am rising to the work of a human being. Why then am I dissatisfied if I am going to do the things for which I exist and for which I was brought into the world? Or have I been made for this, to lie in the bed-clothes and keep myself warm?- But this is more pleasant.- Dost thou exist then to take thy pleasure, and not at all for action or exertion? Dost thou not see the little plants, the little birds, the ants, the spiders, the bees working together to put in order their several parts of the universe? And art thou unwilling to do the work of a human being, and dost thou not make haste to do that which is according to thy nature.

"Get up and do your job, asshole." He must have been a hit at parties.

The book is full of gems like that. Brutal observations that rock the foundation of who you really are. This is what the most powerful man in the world expected of himself and by all accounts he practiced what he preached. He had high standards for himself. For everyone else too, but he forgave their fuck ups much more than his own. After all, you can't control anyone else, but you can sure as shit control yourself.

Marcus Aurelius was able to stare unlimited debauchery and excess in the face and tell it to go fuck itself. He worked his hardest to make this hell hole we live in a little more bearable with no excuses being good enough for himself. If we all took the time to pull our heads out of our asses and make ourselves just a little less shitty, then the world be that much less shitty too. We know that won't happen, but that doesn't mean you can't do your part. You owe that much to him, at the very least. You'd be surprised what you're capable of, if you actually tried.

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Original Post: https://www.universalaxioms.com/meditations-review/