In a crisis, Marcus Aurelius stepped up. In fact, the famous story about him is that he didn’t want to be emperor at all.
He wasn’t sure he could do it. But the night Marcus was informed of the news, he had a dream. In that dream, he had shoulders made of ivory.
It was a sign: He could do it. His shoulders could bear the weight. Put the load right on me, he said to himself. And he bore it for the rest of his life.
Things are hard right now. They’re scary. They’re not your fault.
But they are your responsibility.
They are yours to step up and carry. Because you have the shoulders that can bear the weight.
When Kurt Vonnegut was fifteen, he spent a month or so working on an archaeological dig.
One day over lunch, an archaeologist was bombarding him with all the typical getting to know you questions…
“What sports do you play?”
Vonnegut told the archaeologist that while he didn’t play any sports he was in theatre, choir, played violin, piano and used to take art classes.
The archaeologist was impressed.
“Wow. That’s amazing!”
Perplexed by the praise, Vonnegut backpedalled.
“Oh no, but I’m not any good at ANY of them.”
Seeing the young Vonnegut’s wavering confidence, the archaeologist spoke up.
“I don’t think being good at things is the point of doing them. I think you’ve got all these wonderful experiences with different skills, and that all teaches you things and makes you an interesting person, no matter how well you do them.”
Years later, reflecting on this conversation with the archaeologist, Vonnegut would write the following…
“…I went from a failure, someone who hadn’t been talented enough at anything to excel, to someone who did things because I enjoyed them. I had been raised in such an achievement-oriented environment, so inundated with the myth of talent, that I thought it was only worth doing things if you could “win” at them.”
And so today I will leave you with this…
Choose the thing you want to “win” at.
But then permit yourself to do all the other shit because you want to, because you enjoy it because it makes your life better, fuller and lighter.