Getting wiser with role models
In our daily lifes we always make choices: staying at a job or looking for a more fulfilling one, what food to buy, how to start a difficult conversation, you name it. Since we do not like, when in retrospect we often have to admit our decisions were wrong, we want to get better. Is it possible to learn how to make good decisions, to know "how to live"?
In acknowledging our lack of wisdom, we look out for sources of knowledge and inspiration. We see people around us, who just go smoothly through all obstacles presented to them. We admire how well friends handle disputs between their children or keeping them entertained during long train rides, we admire the persistance a local community initiative keeps raising attention to their cause, the efficiency a collegue tackles a work problem. But there is more than admiration: in recognizing that they do something differently and better, they become our Role Models.
When we analyze our role models behaviour, we discover our own values, our own compass for better navigating life. Not only their success is inspiring, but also (and perhaps mainly) the character they reveal by doing things a certain way.
Our role models don't have to be perfect in every way (such cases come around perhaps every 500 years or so). No, we recognize how they act in aspects of life that are important to us.
Neither has a role model of us to be alive. Most people to learn from are dead already! Luckily, we have written artifacts - what they knew, how they lived, and how they conquered adversity.
Marcus Aurelius was a roman emperor. The challenges this role presented him he could face with human capacities only. His journal "Meditations" offers a glimpse into the way he approached difficult decisions: with courage, temperance, justice and practical wisdom.
In a monthly series the Berlin Stoics read and discuss his Book "Meditations".
Come join us & discover the ancient wisdom that stood the test of time:
