When the world is too much with us (if Wordsworth will excuse me for borrowing his timeless and timely phrase), what are we to do?
The torrents of external pressures are ever-present, whether they manifest through a draconian profit and loss statement, the push-and-pull of the attention of a sandwich generation household, or the ceaseless breaking news alerts of dying media outlets.
In such circumstances, we need a break — physically, mentally, spiritually — we need to distance ourselves from the ceaseless volleying of these competing artillery that constantly replenish us with horror, outrage, and sadness.
We prefer calm, orderly lives and yet the world does not avail itself of our most earnest desires.
So what is a busy and stressed out person to do?
I found the answer in an old book, where so much wisdom of scores of generations is bound up.
In his Epistles, the ancient poet Horace spoke to Lollius Maximus (I like to think that his name is Latin for LMAO or ROFL), suggesting that he “interrogate the writings of the wise” to find the answers to eternal questions that plague us still.
Asking them to tell you how you can
Get through your life in a peaceable tranquil way.
Will it be greed, that always feels poverty-stricken,
That harasses and torments you all your days?
Will it be hope and fear about trivial things,
In anxious alternation in your mind?
Where is it virtue comes from, is it from books?
Or is it a gift from Nature that can’t be learned?
What is the way to become a friend to yourself?
What brings tranquility?
What makes you care less?
And those answers are as unique as we are.
What matters to us? Where are we putting our efforts? Whose lives have we positively impacted today?
Reflecting on these things will bring that joy, that tranquility, that inner peace and calm.
