Yesterday, I was scrolling the internet, and I came across Marcus Aurelius and his famous philosophy of Stoicism, which made me curious, so I decided to read more about him. And this is where everything changed for me as well.
I got to know that he was the Emperor of the Roman Empire and ruled Rome from around 161 AD to 180 AD. And it’s not notable. The notable thing is that his wife had multiple affairs with gladiators, and he was well aware of all those affairs. Still, he was not worried too much about it because he didn’t want to lose the Roman Empire, which he got in dowry.
This is the theory that is rumoured, and there is much more to it. I was trying to look into it, and I just tried to explore his philosophy, which suggested that people should always focus on things that they can control not on things that are not in their control.
If I look at my life, I can clearly see why he has said so. Today, I have so many events in my life that are out of my control. Because I can’t control those events, I can only control how I react to them and how I see all those events.
I am 30 years old now, and in terms of success, I am not that successful. And when you’re a part of Indian society, things become worse because people think that if you’re 30, then you should be married and have a family or something.
It took me so long to realise that when there are dark times in your life, you’re trapped in things that you cannot say anything about, and you can’t change those events.
I ask my family members not to talk about events that I don’t want to deal with right now because these things will only create conflict in my life, nothing else.
But they never stop. They keep reminding me of that thing every one or two days and make me think about it. I used to think that I was special, that I would be able to run away from problems. But the truth is, no one can run from problems. The only thing they can do is change their thoughts, mindset, and the way they see things.
I realised this very soon. This might be early or late; I don’t know. Currently, the Indian economy is suffering, and we are all just facing challenges, especially students and youngsters.
I have to live with it, and it’s not only me. All the students of India are going through it. And we are not only fighting the economic crisis, but we are also fighting the old thinking and many more such things.
So, when Marcus may have found out about the affairs in his life, that she was having affairs with gladiators, he might have thought, what is the point of saying it out loud? Because this was only going to ruin Marcus’s reputation, nothing else. Maybe for that reason, he chose to be quiet and chose not to say anything because there was nothing he was going to get by correcting his wife’s morals.
I think at some point, we all have to realise that morals don’t always work in the right way, and the universe sometimes forces you to go against your morals. Otherwise, you will just end up with nothing. And maybe because of that, we always see bad people thriving — not all people, but some.
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