On Nature's Prescription

It's day 219 of documenting 2025.

Today was pretty windy...

And cold 🥶 

I stayed a warm room this evening for my nap...and felt much better, 2 hours later.

I wonder if these cold winds are a transition into the dry season.

I just wonder....

It's 7:10pm now as I type this.

I didn't type today's blog on time, between all the tutoring and tiredness....and me deciding not to give up my evening nap so I could post "early".

Here we are, my friend 😆

It's a late night post...

But the streak is still alive 🔥

So, it doesn't matter....and a better way of looking at it, I can say a little about how my day went.

(Perspective, baby!)

Well, how did my day go?

Pretty good....probably because I started with an early morning, sat in silence and committed the day into God's hands.

All that was possibly because I decided to sleep before 11pm the night before.

Then my 5am alarm woke me up.

I like to identify myself as a night person....and I prefer to stay up late than wake up early.

Today was an exception tho....

A needed exception....because I was quite tired last night and couldn't keep to my "night owl" routine.

At the same time, I learned that waking up early to study is more beneficial for the brain than staying up late.

I'll keep that in mind when I get admitted into school 🙄

But for now, I'll enjoy my late night sessions....of crochet, movies or a project I need to finish up.

That's all for the updates, my friend.

Let's get into Highlights....as usual, and maybe I'll share a few lessons from Marcus Aurelius....

Or anything else that pops up.

365 Days With Self-discipline 

📌 On Dropping Unnecessary Tasks

"You can complete a project by dropping it."

Quote by Arianna Huffington

I understand: there’s certain allure in being busy all the time, always having a long list of things to do. And let’s not forget, you’re the only one who can perform all those tasks, right?

However, if you want to become more productive and still have energy for your other goals, when you look at your to-do-list, in addition to thinking about then and how to do a certain task, ask yourself if you can drop it.

Look at your to-do list and be honest with yourself: how many tasks are there on your list because you put them there automatically, without even asking yourself if they’re important? 

How about dropping them to make more time for what matters?

This is exactly how I used to operate formerly: adding tasks to my to-do list....just because it felt good crossing off tasks on my to-do list.

Some of them weren't so important....but I know better now.

I hope you do too 🙂

Moving on...

I'll just share two excerpts from Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.

Two long ones....

Meditations 

📌 Book 5

8. Just as you overhear people saying that “the doctor prescribed such-and-such for him” (like riding, or cold baths, or walking barefoot . . .), say this: “Nature prescribed illness for him.” 

Or blindness. Or the loss of a limb. Or whatever. 

There “prescribed” means something like “ordered, so as to further his recovery.” And so too here. 

What happens to each of us is ordered. It furthers our destiny.

And when we describe things as “taking place,” we’re talking like builders, who say that blocks in a wall or a pyramid “take their place” in the structure, and fit together in a harmonious pattern.

For there is a single harmony. Just as the world forms a single body comprising all bodies, so fate forms a single purpose, comprising all purposes.

 

Even complete illiterates acknowledge it when they say that something “brought on” this or that. 

Brought on, yes. Or prescribed it. And in that case, let’s accept it—as we accept what the doctor prescribes. 

It may not always be pleasant, but we embrace it—because we want to get well.

Look at the accomplishment of nature’s plans in that light—the way you look at your own health—and accept what happens (even if it seems hard to accept). 

Accept it because of what it leads to: the good health of the world, and the well-being and prosperity of Zeus himself, who would not have brought this on anyone unless it brought benefit to the world as a whole. 

No nature would do that—bring something about that wasn’t beneficial to what it governed.

So there are two reasons to embrace what happens. 

One is that it’s happening to you. It was prescribed for you, and it pertains to you. The thread was spun long ago, by the oldest cause of all.

The other reason is that what happens to an individual is a cause of well-being in what directs the world—of its well-being, its fulfillment, of its very existence, even. 

Because the whole is damaged if you cut away anything—anything at all—from its continuity and its coherence. Not only its parts, but its purposes. 

And that’s what you’re doing when you complain: hacking and destroying.

9. Not to feel exasperated, or defeated, or despondent because your days aren’t packed with wise and moral actions. 

But to get back up when you fail, to celebrate behaving like a human—however imperfectly—and fully embrace the pursuit that you’ve embarked on.

And not to think of philosophy as your instructor, but as the sponge and egg white that relieve ophthalmia—as a soothing ointment, a warm lotion.

Not showing off your obedience to the logos, but resting in it.

Remember: philosophy requires only what your nature already demands. 

What you’ve been after is something else again—something unnatural.

—But what could be preferable?

That’s exactly how pleasure traps us, isn’t it? Wouldn’t magnanimity be preferable? Or freedom? Honesty? Prudence? Piety? 

And is there anything preferable to thought itself—to logic, to understanding? 

Think of their surefootedness. Their fluent stillness.

You can slowly read them...and some of them you'll probably understand right away.

Others, not so much...

So, here's the breakdown:

8. Nature’s Prescription

Marcus compares life’s challenges to a doctor’s prescription. 

Illness, loss, or setbacks are all “prescribed” by nature (or fate) to fit into a greater harmonious plan.

Even if hard, accepting these trials helps the whole world’s well-being. Complaining is like breaking the natural order.  

Key lesson

Accept what happens as part of your role in the big picture; like medicine for your growth.

(That right there? That's the real lesson for today 😌)

9. Philosophy as Comfort and Strength  

Don’t beat yourself up for not being perfect every day. 

Philosophy isn’t a strict teacher but like a soothing balm; something that supports you in your natural human journey. 

True pursuit is living by reason and virtues like honesty and freedom, not chasing pleasure.  

Key lesson 

Embrace philosophy gently, as a supportive guide to living wisely and calmly.

There you have it!

The TL;DR (short version) of the two long excerpts I just shared.

Maybe you read the whole thing...or scrolled down for the breakdown.

Either way, I hope you got a few takeaways from today's post.

Thanks for reading 🎀 

Thanks for joining me in my little corner of the internet.

And there's good news!

Tomorrow, I'll be launching my poetry collection, "Lanterns For The Lost" on my store. (Finally! 😁)

I'll share the link in the next post.

Watch out for it!

I'm Duon Ada.

I'm documenting 2025,

And I'll see you tomorrow.

Ciao 💕