Drama, combat, terror, numbness, and subservience—every day these things wipe out your scared principles, whenever your mind entertains them uncritically or lets them slip in.
—Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 10.9
How much harder is it to do the right thing when you’re surrounded by people with low standards? How much harder is it to be positive and empathetic inside the negativity bubble of television chatter? How much harder is it to focus on your own issues when you’re distracted with other people’s drama and conflict?
We’ll inevitably be exposed to these influences at some point, no matter how much we try to avoid them. But when we are, there is nothing that says we have to allow those influences to penetrate our minds. We have the ability to put our guard up and decide what we actually allow in. Uninvited guests might arrive at your home, but you don’t have to ask them to stay for dinner. You don’t have to let them into your mind.
* Source: The Daily Stoic by Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman