Steering the mind. Marcus Aurelius 2.7

Marcus returns to a favorite theme, that we should look for purpose in action whose outcome we control, or at least influence, more than we can ever hope to control the world. The secret to living well, for him, is much closer to mastering a small boat than to mastering the seas. Set your horizon on the possible; steer by the stars you see. And let the rest roll on, carried by waves beyond your ken. You can hear the Greek <here>.

Περισπᾷ τί σε τὰ ἔξωθεν ἐμπίπτοντα; καὶ σχολὴν πάρεχε σεαυτῷ τοῦ προσμανθάνειν ἀγαθόν τι καὶ παῦσαι ῥεμβόμενος. ἤδη δὲ καὶ τὴν ἑτέραν περιφορὰν φυλακτέον· ληροῦσι γὰρ καὶ διὰ πράξεων οἱ κεκμηκότες τῷ βίῳ καὶ μὴ ἔχοντες σκοπόν, ἐφ̓ ὃν πᾶσαν ὁρμὴν καὶ καθάπαξ φαντασίαν ἀπευθύνουσιν.

Why do external events still seize you, drawing you away from what matters? Give yourself a break from them so that you may apply your faculties to learning something good, and stop wandering about to no purpose. Already we must watch the passing of another year, another turn of heaven's wheel. Fools rave at the end of a life spent toiling over deeds with no significance, lacking the internal bearings by which to guide every impulse and orient the imagination.