Update

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 Once upon a time , someone asked me if I would be happy working a job that was not at the university. Since my position at the university closed in 2020, I found myself doing exactly that— working in jobs not at the university. It has been a very difficult transition.  Recently, things shifted quickly and in unexpected ways. The short version is that I am leaving the hotel which I am currently working, having taken a position at another.  The longer version of the story is that I stopped by to see my good friend and former GM at his new hotel. While I was visiting with him, one of the owners came out and introduced himself and we got to talking. After a few minutes, he said he wanted me to meet his brother. Our conversation turned into a job interview and 48 hours later I accepted a new position as front desk, manager and assistant operations manager. After some negotiating, we reached an agreement and I start my new position on April 9. It’s a much nicer hotel and these...

Desire and Aversion, Motivation, and Judgement

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“There are three areas in which the person who would be wise and good must be trained.

The first has to do with desires and aversions—that a person may never miss the mark in desires nor fall into what repels them. 


The second has to do with impulses to act and not to act—and more broadly, with duty—that a person may act deliberately for good reasons and not carelessly. 


The third has to do with freedom from deception and composure and the whole area of judgment, the assent our mind gives to its perceptions. 


Of these areas, the chief and most urgent is the first which has to do with the passions, for strong emotions arise only when we fail in our desires and aversions.” 


— Epictetus, (50 - 135 AD) “DISCOURSES”, 3.2.1–3 a 

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