Recommend me some books please?
Hi guys. I've recently been reading into the Meditations by Marcus Aurelius because I've had a period where I let things that upset to me really get to me and it affected me in the way of depression and I stopped going to the gym for a bit because I just had no energy to see people. The reason behind this behaviour is a mixture of relationship problems and also conflict with coworkers. I'm still working at the same place currently but I've had clashes in the past with people because some like to bully newer workers such as myself and it just takes a toll honestly. Mentally speaking that is.
Anyway, I'm basically asking for anyone to recommend me some books or writings that can help me deal with not being overwhelemed by resentment or frustation, and staying positive and focused on my goals while not being bothered by anything external. As I said I've been reading into the meditations and I have some quotes from Seneca and Musashi printed on sheets I've stuck on my wall, but the hardest part is actually changing myself internally, to actually be stronger and change myself. So could anyone recommend something please? I'm quite young so I'm in the process of trying to change myself to be stronger, more confident and more resolute right now.
Any help would be greatly appreciated guys. Thank you.
Anyway, I'm basically asking for anyone to recommend me some books or writings that can help me deal with not being overwhelemed by resentment or frustation, and staying positive and focused on my goals while not being bothered by anything external. As I said I've been reading into the meditations and I have some quotes from Seneca and Musashi printed on sheets I've stuck on my wall, but the hardest part is actually changing myself internally, to actually be stronger and change myself. So could anyone recommend something please? I'm quite young so I'm in the process of trying to change myself to be stronger, more confident and more resolute right now.
Any help would be greatly appreciated guys. Thank you.
Comments (13)
If you're a Christian than the Imitation of Christ might be edifying: learning to accept life's vicissitudes with grace and anchoring oneself in the eternal.
Reading Descartes' Meditations might similarly lift your vision and make the troubles in your life seem less important.
You are totally welcome to all the sympathy, empathy, psychopathy, skeptopathy and any other pathos I can offer, but why should you not be bothered by anything external? [NOTE: this post is not an attack.]
There are any number of long, thick, difficult books in which you might immerse yourself which would be distracting. I have here a 10 pound biography of Marcus Aurelius. You might achieve a beneficial result by causing it to forcefully collide with the skull of one of your abusers at work. (Just kidding of course.)
"Accepting the world the way it is" is always the first step. We are all in a world full of externals over which we do not have control--bad weather, people with whom we are in relationships, earthquakes, co-workers who are assholes, forest fires, and so on. Life is often stressful. We -- you, me -- are not covered by impervious shells. People can get to us. ("Hell is other people" Sartre said, sarcastically.)
"Understanding what it is we really need and finding ways to get it" is another important step. Many of us (me, for instance) would have had happier lives if we had figured out what we really needed, sooner rather than later.
"Making changes in one's life" is necessary IF you are not obtaining what you really need." Is there a book which will tell you how to do these things? Maybe, but I think we kind of have to figure it out, and generally we are capable of solving our problems IF there is a solution. (Sometimes there isn't. If someone needs to live in a problem-free world, they are shit out of luck.)
Do what you can to understand what you really need and how to get it. Meanwhile, enjoy life. Do interesting things. Have lots of relationships with good people. Deal with the assholes at work as well as you can, short of braining them with heavy bios of Marcus Aurelius. Maybe there are ways of disarming them. (Remember, there is a reason why people have to be paid to come to work every day.)
Peace, and protect your head.
Oh dear, how come? >:O
Nothing like hyperbolic doubt to calm the nerves. ;)
Please Understand Me: Character and Temperament Types, by David Keirsey and Marilyn Bates.
I also enjoy reading through Seneca's letters. (there are 124 letters).
Have you ever read Aristotelian criticisms of Stoicism?
https://howtobeastoic.wordpress.com/books/
Yes, it was a hilarious strawman with a small grain of truth :P
Emotional Intelligence
Destructive Emotions