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🕊️ You Hold The Reins
TWO-MINUTE MONK
Ancient wisdom for modern life, every Monday.
🧘 Monk Thought
“People are disturbed not by things, but by the views they take of them.”
— Epictetus
💡 Monk Light
A storm doesn’t cause distress.
It just rains.
A missed train doesn’t ruin a day.
It just leaves.
What ruins the day is the story we tell about it:
"This always happens."
"This shouldn't happen."
"This means something about me."
Epictetus flips the script:
Events are neutral. Reactions are not.
We can’t control most things. But we can control the lens we look through.
That lens decides whether today is heavy or light.
Epictetus was an ancient Stoic philosopher (c. 50–135 CE), whose teachings echo timeless calm and responsibility.
👣 Monk Move
When something unwanted happens today, pause.
Don’t ask, “Why this?”
Ask, “What view am I taking of it?”
Then take a breath.
And choose a gentler one.
🔐 The Monk Vault is now open.
You can find all the previous posts by the Two-Minute Monk in the Vault. The weekly post from the Monk will always be free but at some point in the future, I will create a small subscription of no more than £2 per month to access the Vault to see previous posts and get extra material. For now, though, the Vault remains open and free. Enjoy!