You don’t have to turn this into something. It doesn’t have to upset you. Things can’t shape our decisions by themselves Meditations by Marcus Aurelius And if you are interested in Stoicism, then you should also take a look at some other books that explore Stoicism, Buddhism, happiness and enjoying life. Love books? Get Unlimited Reading/Listening:

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius: 9780812968255 Meditations by Marcus Aurelius: 9780812968255

I am not a stoic, and as I read through Aurelius' I found myself agreeing with Goethe, "What's true of Christianity is true of the Stoics: free men are not fitted to be either Christian or Stoic."Today I escaped my anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions – not outside. Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

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He reminds himself that he's often choosing his own hell. And he can choose to climb out of it. That like C.S. Lewis says, people want to be in hell. They choose it and blame God, just as the addict blames others for his addiction, and cannot escape. Aurelius says: You know what to do: now go do it. And from The Good Soldier by Ford Maddox Ford: If I had a goodly apple on my table for 9 years that was rotten to the core - but for 9 years, I had and believed it to be good - is it wrong of me to believe that for 9 years I had a goodly apple? (Actual quote.)Death is not to be feared, Marus continually reminds himself. It is a natural process, part of the continual change that forms the world” On one hand, it’s amazing to see the inner thoughts of an historical figure. Seeing these thoughts humanizes him. You see the struggles he encounters and they are not so different than what we struggle with today. Additionally, a few of the meditations really spoke to me. I will likely reread in the future and dive deeper into these thoughts. Marcus Aurelius isn't being prescriptive here. He's not even asking us to look internally to ourselves to become better people, or deal with grief or suffering or anger. He's asking himself to look internally.