You know yourself better than I, obviously, but if you're assuming that because your path differs from theirs, I think you should have some doubt that the difference is because you are less capable. It may be that you have different values.
While I believe in equal value of human life, I don't think we are in any way equal in abilities both inborn and acquired. People like Aurelius are rare and dismissing him and his accomplishments as "rich people have it easy" doesn't do justice to both his skills and rather significant sacrifices. More importantly, it absolves us from taking a look at ourselves and the state of our lives.
He seems to have resisted, or rather, his particular ethical framework provided the power to resist two very big and very real problems:
"Mo money mo problems" (~Socrates)
"Power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely" (~Shania Twain)
> I don't think we are in any way equal in abilities both inborn and acquired.
Well, sure, I didn't say anything that disagrees with that at all. But you phrased it in a more general sense of being less capable.
Perhaps I read it wrong, but that didn't sound like you were saying "I'm less capable at X", rather that you were saying you were less capable in general. That was the sentiment I was pushing back on.
And I wasn't even saying that assessment was wrong. I was just saying that it's the sort of sentiment that can easily come from incorrectly underestimating one's self and so deserves a deeper look.
Ah, I see. Thanks for the clarification. I was going for “less capable at X”, but an emperor is quite a big job so he’s better at 75% of things that actually matter in practical life: planning, strategizing, managing, coercing, negotiating.
He was a fine emperor, but I have my specialties. Also, I have a good simple life for which I am grateful. Being an emperor sucks.
I believe he was making a pretty decent joke there. At least, I'm pretty sure he knew that Socrates didn't literally say "Mo money mo problems", either.
You know yourself better than I, obviously, but if you're assuming that because your path differs from theirs, I think you should have some doubt that the difference is because you are less capable. It may be that you have different values.