Your 3-Part Micro Morning Routine
1. 🧘 Morning Contemplation
🎧 You can find the audio version of this morning’s contemplation below.
Good morning.
The hand-drawn animated film version of the children’s book The Boy, The Mole, The Fox and The Horse is a heartwarming story of kindness, friendship, courage, and hope for viewers of all ages.
It follows the four unusual friends as they share their feelings and search for a home.
Early in the film, the mole asks the boy what he wants to be when he grows up.
“Kind,” is the boy’s response, to which the mole says: “Nothing beats kindness; it sits quietly beyond all things.”
What’s lovely about the film, and what those of us with an interest in Stoicism might recognize as practical philosophy, we not only hear the characters talk about lessons like this, but we also see them turn words into deeds.
For example, the mole frees the fox from a trap despite being threatened by the initially aggressive fox.
Marcus Aurelius could have been summarizing the mole’s philosophy of life when he wrote the following in book 6 of his Meditations:
Only one thing is important: to behave throughout your life toward the liars and crooks around you with kindness, honesty, and justice.
The mole’s summary of his actions, meanwhile, after being praised by the boy for his bravery, wouldn’t seem out of place in one of Epictetus’s Discourses:
One of our greatest freedoms is how we react to things.
The fox, grateful for the mole’s kindness, later saves the mole from being swept away by a river, showing how one act of kindness tends to lead to more.
In the end, the boy learns that home is not always a fixed place. The kindness and warmth he had been searching for, he found in his friends.
The film ends with the boy making the following conclusion as he sits with his friends, capturing the essence of his present circumstance and also the general attitude we should all take toward life:
That’s why we’re here, isn’t it? To love and be loved.
2. 🎧 Morning Meditation
Now it's time to sit down in a safe, comfortable spot, close your eyes, and take a few minutes for yourself to meditate on this morning's theme.
Listen to the short meditation below as I guide you to briefly reflect on the key points from today's contemplation.
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