Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 8.62

In one way an arrow moves, in another way the mind.

The mind indeed, both when it exercises caution and when it is employed about inquiry, moves straight onward not the less, and to its object.

—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, Book 8 (tr Long)

Both the arrow released by the archer, and the thought released by the mind, will always be directed toward the target. Yet while the arrow will always follow a steady and simple arc, the thought will stop and start, divert itself this way or that, and take a winding path, sometimes more quickly or sometimes more slowly. Still, the thought will inevitably go to its mark.

Sometimes I have taken a direct path in life, and sometimes I have taken a winding path. Sometimes my understanding races ahead, and sometimes it is bogged down. Sometimes my awareness runs straight and true, and sometimes it goes in loops. Still, the thought will inevitably go to its mark.

I am interested here not only in the distinction between the physical motion of a projectile and the mental motion of judgment, but also in the fact that however circuitous or tardy my route may be, I will end up exactly where I intend to be. This has both been to my benefit, and also my undoing.

I will go wherever I ultimately decide to go, for better or for worse. Nothing else that might stand in the way, or sway me this way or that, is ever going to change the purpose I have chosen for myself. When I have focused on the true and the good, I find peace and contentment. When I have focused on the false and the seductive, I find conflict and worry.

I end up exactly where I pointed myself from the beginning. I am the one who took the aim; let me blame nothing else. How important it is, therefore, that I orient myself rightly from the start!

Now sometimes I say that the world has tripped me up, or that the situation has made me lose my sight. These were, however, only the circumstances of my error, not the source of my error. I tripped myself up when faced with them, and I became blind by closing my eyes to them.

Every blessing or curse follows from the presence or absence of my attention. The direction of the wind, the tricks of light, and all the petty distractions are only as disruptive as I allow them to be. My own estimation guides me, and nothing else.

A Stoic, like any good man, is accountable for the direction of his life. That direction has nothing to do with the trappings around him, but with the true aim of his own character.

Written in 7/2008