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Thought of the day from Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius: “If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.”
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ScienceBlog.com
Marcus Aurelius is saying that when something outside you distresses you, the sting is not coming from the thing.
The studies below describe patterns across groups of people, which is a different thing from a rule about you or your situation.
What “your estimate of it” actually meansStrip away the Roman phrasing and Marcus is drawing a line between an event and your appraisal of that event.
The move Marcus describes has a name in emotion research: cognitive reappraisal.
Closing thoughtsWhat Marcus got right is that a gap exists between an event and your reaction to it.