☀️ Micro Morning Meditation: Keep the Coals in Mind

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Good morning.

We’re social creatures and Stoicism is a prosocial philosophy.

There’s no debate: we exist for mutual support. We can’t live a good life if that life doesn’t include helping and being helped.

But with that need for interaction comes danger. When we spend a lot of time with other people, it’s inevitable they’ll start to influence us in one way or another. And if that influence is harmful, then we need ways to protect ourselves.

The Stoic teacher Epictetus used the example of coal: if you put by the side of a live coal one that has gone out, either the dead coal will put the live one out, or the latter will kindle the former.