Zee 🌿 <zee@gardensofzen.com>
To: you
Day 5: The dichotomy of control
Day 5 of 28
Good morning,
today brings the sentence the whole of Stoicism rests on. Epictetus opens his handbook with: "Some things are within our power, others are not."
Within your power: your judgements, decisions, intentions and actions. Not within your power: the weather, the economy, traffic, your colleague's opinion, the outcome of your application.
Your practice today (about 8 minutes)
- Take two minutes this morning and write down the one thing occupying you most right now.
- Draw a line and sort: which parts of it are up to you? Which are not?
- For the parts within your power, phrase one single next step — small enough to do today.
- For the rest, Epictetus' advice applies: acknowledge, release, move on.
The core
Most exhaustion doesn't come from what we do — it comes from what we try to control even though it cannot be controlled. Drawing the line between the two is not resignation. It is the precondition for acting powerfully where it counts.
Question for tonight: Where did I lose energy today on something that wasn't in my power?
See you tomorrow,
Zee