{"id":450,"date":"2023-09-02T02:51:52","date_gmt":"2023-09-02T09:51:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.meditationsbybilly.com\/?p=450"},"modified":"2023-09-02T02:51:52","modified_gmt":"2023-09-02T09:51:52","slug":"happiness-comes-from-a-strong-soul","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.meditationsbybilly.com\/the-daily-stoic\/09\/02\/happiness-comes-from-a-strong-soul\/","title":{"rendered":"Happiness Comes From a Strong Soul"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
“The rational soul is stronger than any kind of fortune \u2014 from its own share it guides its affairs here or there, and is itself the cause of a happy or miserable life.”<\/p>SENECA, MORAL LETTERS<\/em>, 98.2b<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n
You can’t count on good fortune to make you happy. It’s all luck, by definition \u2014 and anyway there’s no guarantee that it will always be good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You can’t count on hard work either, because fortune still<\/em> plays a part despite how hard you labor. You could work diligently at your job for a long time until you get promoted to be the CEO of your company… and then the company could go out of business in an economic downturn. Or disaster could strike your house or your family out of nowhere. Hard work doesn’t give you control<\/em>, no matter how much we like to think it does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What you can<\/em> count on is your soul. That’s the only thing over which you truly have control. You can train your soul to be resilient and strong, no matter what fortune brings. Don’t let your soul give up<\/a> before your body does.<\/p>\n\n\n\n