"The Palest Ink...."

It's day 176 of documenting 2025.

Some things we'll just miss
As new events occur
Be it joy or bliss
Or the past that doesn't reoccur.

Pretty good, right?
I just formed it now.
It still needs a little fine-tuning to clearly show the theme 🤔
No...I think it's okay.

Anyways, on life updates (which is not a section by the way), I'm stopping some online work I started two months ago.
I mentioned in some particular posts that there was some new development that I couldn't say.

Well, it was the online job I got.
And juggling online work and teaching at a school really takes a lot out of me.
Dozing off mid-sentence is a new thing now. I hope it doesn't get to narcolepsy 😪

For some time, I loved the idea of a double identity.
Duon Ada,
Teacher by day, content writer by night.
Similar to those expressions used to describe superheroes with double lives.

Honestly, I planned to go at it for 5 months.
But God had other plans.
My exam is on the way, the one that actually qualifies me for admission.
POSTUTME.
I haven't started active studying...and for the past few days, a specific realization has come to mind.
If I keep at it and don't start studying on time, I may not pass.

That's why I have to give up my online work...and very soon, I will have to give up teaching soon 😕
And then move on.
On to the sections for today...

365 Days With Self-discipline
📌 On Jotting Things Down

"The palest ink is more reliable than the most powerful memory."
Chinese proverb

It’s all fine and dandy to tell yourself that you’re going to achieve this and that goal.
However, in the end, our memories are fickle. 

You can forget about some goals, or stop working on them simply because they were never real in the first place — you’ve never written them down, so they only existed in your head and if something is only in your head, you can conveniently make it disappear
without a trace or simply forget it without intending to.

Develop a habit of writing down your goals, even if it’s only one sentence or two.
Thanks to the habit of tracking your goals on paper, you’ll look at your objectives as real-world resolutions and not just mere ideas floating through your head that you can disregard whenever you feel like doing so.

It’s more difficult to do the same if your goals are written, because erasing them — regardless if it’s by deleting a text file or tearing up a piece of paper — will make it painfully clear that you’re giving up on them.

In addition to writing down your goals, write down specific routines that you plan to follow in order to achieve them.
For example, for this book, I have a
spreadsheet in which I note down how many daily entries I write each day. That way, I can hold myself accountable and compare my performance today to that
of the past.

Moreover, it makes it clear to me how close I am to achieving my goal, and all of that boosts my motivation to keep going.
It also lets me see if things are going as planned and if the plan itself needs revision in order to improve the results.

By the way, the author of this book is Martin Meadows.
So the 'I' is the author referring to himself.
He's also the author of 'The Ultimate Focus Strategy' and 'Grit'.
(If you've read those books before..)

Today's note is crystal clear, right?
It's all about jotting things down on paper.
More like a reminder for me to create the reality of my achievements by writing them down first.

On to Meditations, by the one and only Marcus Aurelius.

Meditations
📌 Book 3: In Carnuntum

PS. This is the last lesson from this chapter (or book)

16. Body. Soul. Mind.
Sensations: the body.
Desires: the soul.
Reasoning: the mind.

To experience sensations: even grazing beasts do that.
To let your desires control you: even wild animals do that—and rutting humans, and tyrants (from Phalaris to Nero . . .).

To make your mind your guide to what seems best: even people who
deny the gods do that. Even people who betray their country. Even people who do <. . .> behind closed doors.
If all the rest is common coin, then what is unique to the good man?

To welcome with affection what is sent by fate.
Not to stain or disturb the spirit within him with a mess of false beliefs. Instead, to preserve it faithfully, by calmly obeying God—saying nothing untrue, doing nothing unjust.

And if the others don’t acknowledge it—this life lived with simplicity, humility, cheerfulness—he doesn’t resent them for it, and isn’t deterred from following the road where it leads: to the end of life.

An end to be approached in purity, in serenity, in acceptance, in peaceful unity with what must be.

Quite understandable in some areas.
But I asked ChatGPT to interprete what he was trying to say.
And it said:

Marcus Aurelius was reflecting on what truly sets a good person apart. He breaks down human experience into body, soul, and mind—and shows how most of what we do (like feeling, wanting, reasoning) isn’t unique to us; animals and even immoral people do those too.

What is unique to a good person, he says, is the ability to accept fate with grace, stay truthful and just, and keep the inner spirit undisturbed by lies, desires, or bitterness.

Even when others don’t understand or appreciate this path, the good person stays the course—calmly, humbly, and at peace with life and its end.

In simple terms: our real power lies in how we respond to life, not in what happens to us.

Simple truth...complex wording.
Thanks to AI, we can understand what the ancients were trying to say 😌

Well, that's all for today.
I almost forgot that I didn't post this today...
And it's almost 8pm.
Pretty late, if you ask me.

One thing stands tho...
I added to the streak and it's still alive 🔥
That's all that matters.

Thanks for reading, my friend ☺️
I really appreciate the fact that you find what I write, interesting.
You can help out by taking the reader survey I created.
You can also visit the main site, Documenting 2025 to catch up on former posts.
I'll see you there 😉

I'm Duon Ada.
I'm documenting 2025,
And I'll see you tomorrow.
Ciao 💕