My Three Mantras
I live by three mantras that help me set my intention every day. Each adage reflects my core principle of learning. I am a perpetual student centered around the concept of learning and improving. I'm always motivated to learn more. I've adopted three phrases to serve as my life mottos.
To give you some background, I was first introduced to two of these phrases when I was an ancient history and classical civilization student at the University of Texas at Austin during my undergrad years. During this time, I took Latin to fulfill my foreign language requirements. I was reintroduced to these mottos more than ten years later when I read The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday. I recommend reading or listening to his book. It alone has changed my life for the better. I will write more about how that book influenced me later.
My Three Mantras:
Amor Fati
Vires Acquirit Eundo
Learn From Everyone
Amor Fati is a Latin phrase that translates to "love your fate," also known as "love your life." Amor Fati means to love everything that happens to you, whether good or bad because whatever happens to you is fated for you. That job you hate? Your lowly position in life? Your current or ongoing problems? Love them. Although it may feel strange to love the bad things in your life and will require some reframing of thoughts, every negative in life and every challenge offers us the opportunity to learn something. If you are learning from life, you can't lose. Learning is winning no matter the circumstance.
Vires Acquirit Eundo, my second mantra, is a Latin phrase that means "we gather strength as we go." I love this one because it implies that we will be human and make mistakes in life, but we can choose to learn from them and improve our lives. Learning from these mistakes makes us stronger as individuals. All of our experiences, whether they are good or bad, are something we can learn from. We gather strength as we go means that the more we know, undertake, and experience, the more power, and tenacity we will acquire. Therefore every mistake and lesson can be used to our advantage. We can appreciate life's experiences if we maintain the perspective that whatever we are going through or enduring is happening FOR us and not TO us. Each experience shapes us into a better, more powerful version of ourselves if we approach it with a learner's mindset.
My final mantra is to Learn From Everyone, despite their age or circumstance; everyone in our life is here to teach us something valuable. This mantra builds on Amor Fati in the sense that people are destined for you to encounter. If you adopt this mantra, you'll realize that no one is a waste of your time. I take it as a challenge to test and determine what lessons can be derived from every interaction I have with others. For example, you encounter someone at work who annoys you. This annoying co-worker provides you the perfect opportunity to learn what makes them tick and understand their origin before making harsh judgments. It's also an opportunity to practice compassion, kindness, and patience. There is a famous saying that everyone comes into your life for a reason, and I firmly believe they are in your life for you to learn something from them.
Looking at life through the lens of learning all of life's lessons, big and small, can be used to make you a better person. Learning is an opportunity to improve your condition if you accept the challenge. If you strive to be a learner in life, there is no experience or encounter that can't benefit you.
