365 Days With Self-Discipline: 365 Life-Altering Thoughts on Self-Control, Mental Resilience, and Success

Day 48: On the Deadening of the Soul

Most  of  us  dread  the  deadening  of  the  body  and  will  do  anything  to

avoid it. About the deadening of the soul, however, we don’t care one iota.

—Epictetus

 

47

It’s curious that millions of people all over the world spend countless

amounts of money and time to improve their appearance through the use of

cosmetics,  plastic  surgery,  expensive  clothes,  supplements,  and  other

treatments,  but  spend  little  to  nothing  on  improving  themselves  on  the

inside.

It’s more important to avoid wrinkles than to prevent negative habits

from  forming.  It’s  a  better  investment  to  fix  your  sagging  cheeks  than  to

learn  how  to  exercise  restraint  in  unnecessary  spending.  Nobody  will

comment  or  even  notice  your  deterioration  of  mental  toughness  and  a

growing  preference  for  complacency  over  growth,  but  everybody  will

praise you for your new clothes. $10 for a book that can change your life is

too expensive. $100 for another pair of jeans is a screaming deal.

Your spending habits — including spending in the monetary sense and

the investment of energy or time — reveal your true priorities.

How much do you spend on your external appearance, and how much

do you expend on developing your inner world? Is the proportion healthy,

or do you find it hard to justify spending for personal growth, but never fail

to invest in your superficial appearance?

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