This piece is part of my 2016–2026 archive migration. Some original formatting, content, and external links may be missing, changed, or not be optimized.
The power we consistently relinquish to the world and its inhabitants
If a person gave away your body to some passerby, you’d be furious. Yet you hand over your mind to anyone who comes along, so they may abuse you, leaving it disturbed and troubled – have you no shame in that? (Epictetus)
Why do we allow others to abuse our thoughts and minds?
Someone talks to or treats us a certain way; someone tries to hurt us; a boss consistently makes us feel like sh*t; a spouse grows more irritating by day; someone says something harmful about us; a stranger’s facial expression at us appears offensive.
All of these experiences provide us the opportunity to respond productively or negatively. We don’t have to be offended or affected by any of things. We can allow these things to simply be. Reading into situations too deeply is often costly to our time, health, and peace.
It’s hard to not be affected by life, but it’s highly productive.
We Are Less Disciplined With Our Minds
Instinctively, we protect our physical selves. We don’t let people touch us, push us around, control where we go. But when it comes to our minds, we’re less disciplined. We hand it over willingly to social media, to television, and to what other people are doing, thinking, or saying. (The Daily Stoic)
What if we no longer allow external things and people to affect our minds so strongly? What if it took an enormous effort to get upset instead of getting upset over every little thing?
How much freer would we be? How much happier and at peace would we be? How much more stable would our mental health state be?
But first, we must discipline our minds by standing guard at what we allow to affect them.
It’s Time To Try Something Different
This week I challenge you to let all slights and negative triggers and events from others slide. For just one week, I want you to act as if no one and nothing can get under your skin or cause you to be angry or irritated.
When you take a step back, you might realize that most matters we get emotional about are wasted energy.
If you were in a spaceship above the earth, you would see how small we are in the grand scheme of things. These trivial matters that are taking significant real estate in our lives are not worth it. We need to release all of the bs so we can focus on living and experiencing happiness.
There are already too many things that try to steal our happiness daily; we don’t need to give others and external events permission to steal even more of our happiness!
From now on, when someone or something starts affecting you, I want you to think to yourself: Will I give this person, thing, situation, or event permission to influence and abuse my mind today?
This content is for informational purposes only — not professional advice. Consult a qualified professional before making any major decisions.