March 15, 2019
Dearest Readers,
It’s tough to be the king today, as On This Date features both an assassination and an abdication, while Top of the Charts looks at 1971. Philosophy 101 features a quote from Will Durant, about not depending too much on external factors.
Cordially,
xoxoxo
Kaitlyn
On This Date:
In 44 BC – Roman Dictator Julius Caesar is assassinated by some malcontents in the Roman Senate, who he had been bickering with for a while. Though able to stave off the initial attack, he was unable to fend off reinforcements and Caesar has stabbed a total of 23 times, though an autopsy, the earliest one on record, said only the second one, which severed his aorta, was fatal.
In 1917 – The Emperor of Russia Nicholas II is forced to abdicate, ending over 300 years of rule by his family. He and other family members were immediately imprisoned and would be executed the following year.
Top of the Charts
#1 songs on this date in 1975:
Hot 100 – Black Water…The Doobie Brothers (only week)
Soul Chart – Supernatural Thing (Part 1)…Ben E. King (only week)
Country Chart – Before the Next Teardrop Falls…Freddy Fender (1st of two weeks)
Album Chart – Have You Never Been Mellow…Olivia Newton-John (only week)
– Chart data courtesy of Billboard.
Numbers Racket
10,674: the continuous number of days the US has been at war.
22.126: the number of dollars, in trillions, of America’s national debt. – Source: usdebtclock.org
607: days until Election Day 2020.
Philosophy 101
The essence of the matter is that a man should so mold his life and conduct so that his happiness shall depend as little as possible upon external things.
Will Durant
The Story of Civilization, Volume III: Caesar to Christ.
It’s inevitable that we are influenced by external factors. Family and friends provide demands on our time and us humans tend to spend a lot of time being entertained, from our homes to the palms of our hands. Distractions from the life we were meant to lead are everywhere.
If we are spending all of our time being influenced by external forces we are ignoring the forces that compel us from deep inside. When we ignore these forces we are actually ignoring the very core of our being, the reason we were put in this planet. We are a half-step off the path we are meant to be taking and this doesn’t do anybody any good.
All of us were issued certain talents and ambitions at birth and those that get on in this life are those who spend their lives on a path that leads to maximizing these talents. They have the wisdom to know what they are about, the courage to follow their path, and the patience to see their path through till the very end. It doesn’t matter what these talents are, either. It doesn’t matter if they cause us to live down the ages or barely be noticed. What does matter is that we get the most out of them.
This is both easy and hard. Easy, because when we commit to maximizing our talents we are doing things we enjoy and have a knack for. It’s difficult, supremely difficult at times, because we must do it every day. We can’t commit to our path some days and not others, some years and not others. Those that get on in this life pursue their path with diligence and courage.
The only way to build a satisfying life, a life looked back on with pleasure, is to be on your path every day, from the day you commit to it until the day you die. When we do that, when we commit to maximizing the talents we were born with, we will be living the life we were meant to live, life’s great prize
Will Durant (1885-1981) was an American historian, philosopher and writer. though his wife Ariel collaborated with him, she did not always get credit.