Meditations: The Obstacle Is the Way

Picture the most powerful man on Earth, nearly two thousand years ago.

想像一下將近兩千年前，世上最有權勢的人。

Now picture him alone in a tent, scribbling notes to himself by lamplight.

再想像他獨自在帳篷裡，就著燈光寫筆記給自己。

That man was Marcus Aurelius, and those notes became Meditations.

這個人就是馬可・奧理略，而那些筆記就成了《沉思錄》。

He ruled Rome through a devastating plague and almost constant war.

他在一場毀滅性的瘟疫和幾乎不曾停歇的戰爭中統治羅馬。

He never intended anyone else to read what he wrote.

他從沒打算讓別人讀到他寫的東西。

It was a private diary, a way of talking himself through the day.

那是一本私人日記，是他自我對話、撐過每一天的方式。

One entry opens with a rather blunt warning to himself.

其中一篇以一句相當直白的自我提醒開頭。

'Today,' he writes, 'I'll deal with people who are meddling, ungrateful and arrogant.'

他寫道：「今天，我會遇到愛管閒事、忘恩負義又傲慢的人。」

But instead of resenting them, he reminds himself that we're all made to work together.

但他沒有怨恨他們，而是提醒自己：人生來就是要彼此合作的。

Much of the book boils down to one deceptively simple distinction.

這本書的大部分內容，可以歸結為一個看似簡單的區分。

Some things are within our control: our judgements, our choices, our actions.

有些事在我們的掌控之中：我們的判斷、選擇和行動。

Almost everything else, other people, the weather, the past, isn't.

而幾乎其他一切——別人、天氣、過去——都不在。

And pouring energy into that second category is, frankly, exhausting.

坦白說，把力氣耗在第二類事情上，實在很累。

His most quoted line is about obstacles.

他最常被引用的一句話是關於阻礙的。

'The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.'

「阻礙行動的，反而推動行動。擋在路上的，就成了路。」

In other words, the problem itself can become the path forward.

換句話說，問題本身可以變成前進的路。

A cancelled plan becomes a chance to practise patience.

一個被取消的計畫，就成了練習耐心的機會。

Marcus also kept death firmly in view, not to be gloomy,

馬可也時時把死亡放在心上，不是為了消沉，

but to remind himself that time is the one thing we never get back.

而是提醒自己：時間是我們唯一永遠要不回來的東西。

That's what makes even an ordinary day so precious.

正因如此，就算是平凡的一天也如此珍貴。

Perhaps my favourite line is also the shortest.

也許我最喜歡的一句，也是最短的一句。

'Waste no more time arguing about what a good man should be. Be one.'

「別再浪費時間爭論好人該是什麼樣子。去當一個好人。」

Two thousand years later, it's still remarkably good advice.

兩千年後，這仍是極好的忠告。

So, what's standing in your way today? It might just be the way.

那麼，今天擋在你路上的是什麼？也許它正是你的路。