I can easily temper the complexity of this post because you can find plenty of information about this famous figure elsewhere. With that said, whenever I consider temperance, Marcus Aurelius often jumps to mind. Hand-selected to assume one of the most powerful positions on the planet at his time, he sets a golden standard for us all to live by.
When you arise in the morning, think of what a privilege it is to be alive, to think, to enjoy, to love.
-Marcus Aurelius
As emperor of the Roman Empire for years, this monumental man could have whatever he wanted. Yet, what did he focus on? The truly valuable and intangible aspects of life. Marcus delighted simply in waking up each morning. Do you? He did not get weighed down in material wealth and accumulations. He focused on health and acted as an ideal example for all of us to strive towards. To be given the possibility of everything and not change who you are at your core is one of the greatest accomplishments I can possibly imagine. To continually strive each day towards bettering yourself instead of resting on your plentiful laurels. To leave behind a map that we can all read and follow if we so choose to lead a life with a similar degree of temperance. Would you rather tame your lane or fall victim to all that surrounds it, becoming enslaved by the next ad, fad, or vice?
Stop allowing your mind to be a slave, to be jerked about by selfish impulses, to kick against fate and the present, and to mistrust the future.
-Marcus Aurelius
I want you to have it all, but will you still stay true to the best version of you if and when you do? Meditations is one of my favorite books. It essentially consists of many entries from his time spent journaling and reflecting on his days. While I am still working my way through it slowly when I want more wisdom to digest, I love that we have the intuitive reflections of someone so prominent and temperate preserved for posterity. Marcus never intended for his thoughts to be visible to the public, yet we are so lucky and fortunate to have such wisdom available. I think it would be dumb to ignore his informative insights.
Fight to be the person that philosophy tried to make you.
-Marcus Aurelius
Temperance is not about being a tough person. Temperance is about being your best self because you know it to be what is best for all. Marcus openly discusses crying out of empathy for himself and others on multiple occasions. He tuned into and turned towards his emotions instead of tuning them out and turning his back on them. The great Roman emperor channeled each feeling as it arose in order to move on to each eventual event with as even of a temper as humanly possible. Bottling up your emotions is not healthy, and it does not produce a temperate climate for you or those around you. Make yourself internally wealthy. When he reflected on what he learned and valued from those who helped him grow into the shining beacon of justice that we now admire, speaking about his adoptive father, Marcus wrote “you could have said of Antoninus, as they say, of Socrates, that he knew how to enjoy and abstain from things, that most people find it hard to abstain from, and all too easy to enjoy.” We, too, can learn how to live our best lives if we begin to cultivate and grow our own temperance. Will you give it a try?
Maybe it is wise. Maybe it is dumb. Time will tell.