Nick DiMaggio’s Reviews > Meditations > Status Update

Focus on what’s in front of you, regardless of whether it’s a situation, an action, doctrine, or the words that make that doctrine up. (And, yes, you do deserve what you are suffering — you are the one who keeps pushing the pursuit of good personhood back from today to tomorrow.)

When circumstances put pressure on you, and you get all worked up, as they say, return to yourself immediately. Don’t jar with the rhythm of the universe one moment longer than a distraction demands. The way to learn the cosmic music is to come back home to it over and over again.

Our mind obviates every obstacle to our actions by turning it into an opportunity to innovate. What impedes an action of ours just ends up advancing it. Every obstacle in our way just helps us get ahead.

Just as a doctor keeps his scalpels and other gear on hand in case of emergency, you should always have your principles with you so that you can accurately dissect what belongs to the gods and what belongs to man.

It’s hard to see a man who ignores what is happening in other people’s souls as unhappy. Conversely, everyone who ignores what is happening in his own soul can only be unhappy.