The Little Book of Stoicism

Practice 32

Count Your Blessings

“Don’t set your mind on things you don’t possess as if they were yours, but count the blessings you actually possess and think how much you would desire them if they weren’t already yours. But watch yourself, that you don’t value these things to the point of being troubled if you should lose them.” – Marcus Aurelius

In times of struggles, it can be helpful to remember what we have. Because we forget how good we actually have it, and how kind life has been with us in the past.

Don’t forget to be thankful for what you have—even in the face of adversity.

Marcus reminds us here of three things:

Material things are not important, don’t gather and hoard that stuff.

Be grateful for all you have.

Be careful not to get attached to those things.

Who cares what others have? You can decide for yourself what’s truly important and what isn’t. Focus on yourself. Recognize how life has been generous with you. You don’t need more and more stuff. You need less. And you’ll be freer.

The more you have, the more you can lose. Be grateful for what you have. Appreciate those things. And find ways to take advantage of what you already have.

Here’s a divine law Epictetus generously shares with us: “And what is the divine law? To keep a man’s own, not to claim that which belongs to others, but to use what is given, and when it is not given, not to desire it; and when a thing is taken away, to give it up readily and immediately, and to be thankful for the time that a man has had the use of it.”

Desire not what you don’t have, but appreciate what you do have. Always be ready to give back what you’ve been given, and be thankful for the time it was yours to use.

What a simple law. Let’s tattoo that into our minds.

Seneca agrees: “The greatest blessings of mankind are within us . . . A wise man is content with his lot, whatever it may be, without wishing for what he has not.”

Let’s keep such an attitude of gratitude at all times. For everything we have, and for everything that comes our way.

Make sure to be grateful on a regular basis. The easiest way to do that is to write down a few specific things you’re grateful for each day. Add that to your morning routine when you say Marcus’ words: “When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive—to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”

Remember not to cling to those things. They’re only borrowed from nature and can be taken away at a snap.