I love reading the stoics. They have much to teach us.
When a big event is coming up and we are nervous, we make it hard on ourselves. We might have some negative self-talk, or we keep saying how important it is that we don’t mess this up. We may be worried about how the audience will react or what they will think of us. Maybe it is really important that things go our way.
We torture ourselves about it for days or weeks before. Here’s some advice from the stoic teachers –
“One of the most amazing things you will ever realize is that the moment in front of you is not bothering you, you are bothering yourself about the moment in front of you.” – Michael Singer
“If you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but to your own estimate of it: and this you have the power to revoke at any moment.” -Marcus Aurelius
These quotes are keepers. Very powerful!