A Simple Stoic Evening Meditation

To Complete Your Day The Right Way

Good evening, fellow Stoic.

Let’s embrace a slower pace as we prepare to retire to bed.

Let’s use this mental space to reflect on our day.

In our daily practice of Stoicism, we seek to become better.

The better we become, the more we feel the benefits that the ancient Stoics spoke of — peace of mind, resilience, courage, wisdom.

To ensure we’re on track with our philosophical goals, and to ensure our practice is paying off, we need to review our progress each day. Otherwise, how can we know?

Remember how Epictetus stressed the importance of this exercise (Discourses 3.10):

“Admit not sleep into your tender eyelids

Till you have reckoned up each deed of the day —

How have I erred, what done or left undone?

So start, and so review your acts, and then

For vile deeds chide yourself, for good be…