‘If thou wouldst know contentment, let thy deeds be few’, said the sage.
– Marcus Aurelius, from Meditations
Yesterday, my mate Matt wrote about taking your time, not wasting it.
in 2016, I read about 10 books. And this year… well, WOWEE, the total number of books I’ve read is:
Blah blah whatever. Who gives a flying fuck.
Smashing stuff out Vs. Taking it in
A few months ago I was smashing out one after the other, finishing one as soon as I could, to get on to the next. But it’s not about smashing out things you love to do and that improve you –it’s about taking in, adapting it to your life and putting it into practice.
So going from one book to another, as quick as possible is not taking your time. If your mind’s already looking ahead to the next task, and immediately jumps from one to the next, it’s wasting time.
As Marcus also said in Meditations:
‘For the human soul, a [self-inflicted] wrong is for the soul to direct its acts and endeavours to no particular object, and waste its energies purposelessly and without due thought.’