- III by Stoisayings
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- Age Means Nothing and Accountability Means Everything
III
Three Stoic quotes. Three practical applications. Three minutes.
Welcome to this week's edition of III by Stoisayings. Today we examine what it truly means to live a life of substance, emotional mastery, and authentic growth.
I.
"Often a very old man has no other proof of his long life than his age."
Years lived don't equal life experienced. Some people pack more genuine living into a decade than others do in a lifetime. Today, audit your recent months: What stories could you tell? What risks did you take? What new skills did you develop? If your answer feels thin, that's not a judgment—it's an invitation. Start small: Have one meaningful conversation this week. Try something that makes you slightly nervous. Learn one new thing deeply. Age is just time's accounting, but experiences are life's true currency. The goal isn't to live longer—it's to ensure that when you look back, you see evidence of a life fully engaged, not just fully survived.
II.
"If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your estimate of it; and this you have the power to revoke at any moment."
Your emotional thermostat is under your control, even when it doesn't feel that way. The next time something external triggers you—a rude comment, a traffic jam, a work setback—pause and identify your "estimate" of the situation. Are you telling yourself it's catastrophic? Unfair? Unbearable? Now consciously revise that estimate: "This is inconvenient, but manageable." "This person is struggling, not attacking me." "This setback is temporary data, not permanent defeat." You can't control what happens, but you can edit your interpretation in real-time. Your emotional experience follows your assessment—change the story, change the suffering.
III.
"It is better to do wrong seldom and to own it, and to act right for the most part, than seldom to admit that you have done wrong and to do wrong often."
Integrity isn't about perfection—it's about honest accounting. The person who admits their mistakes quickly builds more trust than the one who pretends they never make any. When you mess up today (and you will, because you're human), try this: Own it immediately, specifically, and without excuses. "I was wrong about that deadline." "I shouldn't have said that." "I made a poor decision." No justifications, no deflections. This isn't self-flagellation—it's self-respect. People trust those who can admit their humanity more than those who perform perfection. Your willingness to be wrong occasionally is what makes you right most of the time.
Until next week, Theo
P.S. What would change if you measured your days not by their quantity, but by their quality of presence and growth?
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