SPEAKER_01 0:17

Hi everyone and welcome to the guided meditations of Marcus Aurelius. I'm your host, John Stoner. This episode is a daytime episode about fate for those that are interested in learning to love the outcomes of life. If you're new to the podcast, a daytime episode is meant for you to listen to in the morning or the middle of the day as opposed to right before bed. If you want to listen to the fate episode right before you go to bed, you'll want the nighttime episode. Before we get started, I highly recommend listening to the journal episode on fate first if you haven't already done so. The reason for that is going to help you put some definition on how this topic relates to your life. Okay, let's go over some ground rules. First off, understand that this is a kind of meditation episode. This podcast is designed to help you relax to a very deep level. So you should only listen to it in a place where you would feel comfortable sleeping for at least the next 30 to 45 minutes. Do not listen to this while you are driving or sitting on a bus. Otherwise, you can potentially injure yourself or someone else, or you might miss yourself. Be mindful of where you listen to this and pick a place that is safe for you to do so. I would also highly suggest going to the toilet before we get started because that can become a huge distraction. If you need to do that now, just hit pause and come back after you're done. Honestly, I'm always looking to improve these episodes. So if there's a particular sort of principle you would like to implement into your subcontest in the future, let me know in the comments and I will do my best to make an episode on that going forward. So with that out of the way, let's get started.

SPEAKER_00 2:26

Maybe even sounds of wind or traffic.

SPEAKER_01 2:43

Things that are alerting you of an emergency are important. But any other sounds can actually help you sink deeper into relaxation. So let those unimportant sounds drift into the background, away from your awareness, and let them help you reach deeper down into a wonderful relaxed state. The unimportant sounds fade away into background noise, and let them do their job to help you relax. As you continue to relax, I'd like you to imagine your center core. The center core is different for every person, but it is wherever you feel is the center of your body. Some people believe it's in their solar plexus, and some people feel it's in their forehead. But wherever you feel is the center of your body, I'd like you to imagine that spot now. Now imagine what it might look like to pull all of your energy deep down into your center core. Whatever that might be like for you, you decide. Now imagine that you have little bits of energy in different places. You have spent time over the last 24 hours, and imagine pulling all of that energy back from those places and pulling it deep down into your center core. Now imagine floating up out of your body. And imagine floating to the wall that's in front of you. Imagine touching it and feeling the texture with your fingers. Then float back to your body and pull yourself deep, deep down into your center core. Now imagine floating up out of your body and floating to the wall behind you. Imagine touching the wall there. Now imagine floating back and pulling yourself deep, deep down into your center core. Now imagine floating up out of your body and floating to the wall on your left. Imagine touching the wall there. Now imagine floating back and pulling yourself deep, deep down into your center core. Now imagine floating up out of your body and floating to the wall on the right. Imagine touching the wall there. And now imagine floating back and pulling yourself deep, deep down into your center core. Now imagine floating up out of your body and floating down to the floor. Perhaps to look up at yourself. Wonderfully relaxed. Now imagine floating back and pulling yourself deep, deep down into your center core. Now imagine floating up out of your body and floating to the ceiling if there is one. Or maybe ten feet into the air if there's not. Then imagine floating down, back and forth like a feather. Down and down and back and forth as you slowly drift down. And imagine pulling yourself deep, deep down into your center core. And while you may notice that your mind is already doing what it is processing information itself, organizing ideas can feel soft, making sense of things in a logical way. There's nothing mysterious or complicated happening here. We're a leaf. This is floating sequence. One step leading naturally to follow every sentence. You don't have to try to relax. You can let them wash over. Effort isn't required at all. Like warm water, your only time is to notice that you're hearing words. Perhaps notice you become aware of your body. And notice that understanding happens automatically. Without effort. Without effort. That's how your mind works. Without instruction. Now consider the simple fact of settling when your body is still snowfalling. The mind has fewer variables to bring the ground. And when the mind has fewer variables, it becomes more efficient. Until everything feels more receptive. You may already observe small changes. Your breathing now. Longer pauses between thoughts. And the rolls of completion has its own natural rhythm. It's not something you need to control. Creating a simply the natural outcome. Your short breathing is a good example. Your arm. You don't calculate all the way down. Yet it follows to your predictable rhythm. You might imagine a place where time feels wide and unhurried. Balance. Place where nothing is expected of you. Where you can simply be. And just like breathing. Colors may action follows rules too. Or textures. Muscles that are not a sense of safety and comfort. That are not required. But doesn't need work into the background. Your mind is recognized image efficiency and efficiency feels its place now. Or not. You may find it interesting because to me that while perfect part of your mind is listening to these words. You may notice that thought because everything being said here makes you are safe. You are in control. And you are simply allowed a temporary shift in attention. Nothing is being forced. There's no need. But hold on to anything. In fact, awareness becomes beneath you more perceived. Knows how to support. You may notice that each feels slightly different. Knows how to carry sound faster, more still. Your mind just less important. I would just think the sentence completes itself. There's some people notice to hold on to it. A pleasant heaviness. Your mind can release a light moves to the next one. That's how systems work. That's spread at a time exactly where it's needed. Without analyzing it too deeply, you just recognize this. Where nothing has to be, where nothing needs to fix, everything is functioning exactly as it should. And allow yourself to continue. And efficiently in its own as this process way. Now without needing to do anything at all, you can allow this experience to deepen naturally. Nothing to fix. You may begin to notice a general sense of release. No longer need to be. And that release can spread not in any particular direction, just everywhere it's welcome. Imagine slowly turning down a dial just one small adjustment at a time, each turn softening the overall experience, making everything quieter, lower, more subtle. With each breath, you may notice a subtle shift, not dramatic, just enough to feel that you're moving further inward. And right now, attention can become effortless. Thoughts don't need to stop. They can simply lose importance. Like background noise that fades as something calmer moves into the foreground. Now imagine a gentle downward movement, not physical, more like a feeling of depth. As if awareness is sinking into a softer, quieter layer of experience. Each moment builds on the last, like steps that descend so smoothly, you hardly notice moving until you realize you're already deeper. If numbers come to mind, they can drift downward now slowly, comfortably, each one marking a deeper level of ease. Almost no need to think at all. In one simply being here. In this state, everything unnecessary has already fallen away. What remains is calm, steady and receptive. You're happy to stay right here. Because this level this quiet, settled space is exactly right for whatever comes next. And you can allow yourself to rest here now, comfortably, peacefully, as the work continues. Consider this now gently. There are forces in life far older and larger than you. Causes set in motion long before you were born, events unfolding from countless prior events, moments arriving that no amount of preference could prevent. Stoics called this fate. Not as something mystical, not as something personal, but as the nature of unfolding of reality, the culmination of countless decisions of beings on this planet and forces of this universe. Things happen because something before them happened. Life moves forward according to causes and conditions, and sometimes the mind resists that. Events do not unhappen. Fate has already unfolded. The Stoics offered something radical, not just acceptance, but amurfati. The love of fate. Not loving pain, not seeking hardship, but choosing to cooperate with what has already occurred. To say, this happened and I will use it. Feel the shift in that. From victim of events to participant in them, from resistance to partnership. Now imagine an event in your life that feels difficult to accept. A disappointment, a loss, a wrong turn, a missed opportunity, an unexpected change. See it clearly. Now imagine viewing it differently. What if this was not an interruption of your path? What if it was part of it? What if this event was woven into the fabric of your becoming? Ask quietly, if this was meant to shape me. What has it strengthened? Resilience? Patience? Humility? Clarity? Compassion? Courage? Notice what has grown in you. The subconscious begins to recognize something powerful. Nothing is wasted if I respond well. It's not how many times I get knocked down. It's how I get back up. Now imagine the present circumstance that you are resisting. Something unfinished, uncertain, uncomfortable. And now imagine something new. You ask, how can I work with this? Feel the steadiness in that question. You are not surrendering your agency. You are directing it. Because fate determines events, but you determine your response. Your effort is yours. Your character is yours. Your interpretation is yours. Your next step is yours. Imagine a future setback. An unexpected delay. A plan that shifts. And instead of frustration taking over, you pause, you breathe, and you quietly say, This too belongs. This too can shape me. This too can be used. Feel how empowering that is. You are training yourself to meet whatever comes. Like craftsman who uses every material, even the rough pieces. Over time, the mind begins to soften its resistance. There will be less, why me, and more, what can I do now? More, this is part of the path, and a quiet confidence begins to grow. Whatever happens, I can turn it towards virtue. I can always respond with wisdom. I can always respond with courage. I can always respond with integrity. Fate may shape the external, but you shape the internal. Now imagine the coming days. Small inconveniences arise and you smile inwardly. A change of plans, and you adapt. An unexpected challenge, and you stand steady. Each time you remember, love of fate is not dramatic. It is practiced in small moments. In each pause, in each reframing, in each deliberate response. And as you practice this, something shifts. Life feels less like something happening to you and more like something happening with you. You are aligned to reality, and in that alignment there is strength. In that strength, there is calm. In that calm, there is trust. And the subconscious learns, whatever comes, I will use it. Whatever unfolds, I will cooperate with it. Nothing is wasted. This is my path, and I walk it willingly. Now, in a moment, will begin the natural process of returning attention outward again. There's no hurry, just a smooth transition from inward focus to present awareness. Everything that's useful from this experience can remain easily available, integrated, settled, ready for you, and anything else can simply stay behind, no longer needed. You may begin to notice the sense of the space around you, the quality of the air, the sounds that are part of the room, the feeling of being here, now. Awareness can start to expand gently, like light increasing at dawn, not sudden, just clear and natural. In a moment, I'll count from one up to five, and with each number, alertness can return comfortably, bringing clarity, balance, and ease. One, a gentle shift outward as attention begins to re-engage. Two, energy returning at a comfortable pace, like waking from a satisfying rest. Three, clearer awareness now, present, and steady. Four, feeling refreshed, oriented, and well. Five, eyes open, if they can close, fully awake, calm, clear, and comfortably alert. A moment to settle. There's no rush to speak or move. Just notice how you are right now. And when you're ready, you can continue with your day, carrying this sense of steadiness and ease with you. Thanks for listening and making me a part of your stoic practice.