“Keep a list before your mind of those who burned with anger and resentment about something, of even the most renowned for success, misfortune, evil deeds, or any special distinction. Then ask yourself, how did that work out? Smoke and dust, the stuff of simple myth trying to be legend.”
Marcus Aurelius, Meditations.
Everything will pass. What we have we cannot take with us when we die. What happens once we have achieved the success and fame we’ve been yearning for? When you win gold, what comes next? Yearning for something in the future or ruminating about something in the past are both avoiding living in the present. Be careful to avoid spending too much time not in the present, because when you least expect it, it’s gone and its shape forgotten. Like smoke in the wind. Live for today.
