“You have power over your mind—not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
—Marcus Aurelius
When I first read this, it felt almost unrealistic. How could my mind be the only thing I control? So much of my life felt shaped by things outside me—grades, expectations, arguments at home, uncertainty about the future. I thought strength came from fixing everything around me.
But slowly, I realized most of my stress didn’t come from the events themselves. It came from the way I reacted to them. A difficult test wasn’t the problem—my fear of failing was. A tense evening at home wasn’t the problem—my anxiety about what might happen was. I was giving away control without noticing.
The moment I understood this quote, things shifted. I couldn’t change the world, but I could change how I met it. I could steady my breathing even if my day felt chaotic. I could choose patience even when emotions ran high. I could return to the present instead of imagining worst-case scenarios.
Strength wasn’t about controlling life. It was about not letting life control me.
And once I focused on the one thing that truly belonged to me—my own mind—I finally felt free.