Move On Once Healed
Move On Once Healed
April 14th
“There are those who, after being released from a long and serious illness, are sometimes touched with fits of fever and slight disorders, and then being freed from the last traces of them are nevertheless disquieted with mistrust. And though now quite well, they stretch out their wrist to a physician and complain unjustly of any trace of heat in their body. It is not that they are not quite well in body, but that they are not quite used to being well. Just as even a tranquil sea will show some ripple, particularly when it has just subsided after a storm.”
—Seneca
Letters From A Stoic
Imagine you've been under the weather for a while, and then finally, you wake up one morning feeling better.
But even though the aches are gone, every little cough or sniffle puts you on edge, and you wonder if you're really fully recovered.
Seneca is likening this experience to our emotional state. Often, after enduring a difficult time, we find ourselves unable to embrace tranquility. We're so accustomed to the chaos that even when life is calm, we're suspicious of the peace.
Think back to the last time you overcame a challenge—did you truly allow yourself to feel at ease afterwards, or were you anxious, waiting for the next wave to hit?
Just as the sea remains restless even after a storm, our minds sometimes struggle to settle. When life smooths out, we might catch ourselves searching for problems, feeling oddly uncomfortable with stillness. This reaction isn't because things aren't going well; it's because we haven't adjusted to this lighter, quieter phase of life.
Today, pay attention to your own internal sea. If you're in a calmer period now, check in with yourself: Are you really allowing yourself to enjoy it, or are you poking and prodding for signs of the next storm?
Remember, just as it takes time for the sea to still after being churned up, it also takes time for us to genuinely adapt to and accept tranquility. Give yourself that time.
