Welcome to The Stoic Ledger, a daily money meditation from one of the Stoic sages.

130/365: Epictetus on what’s really yours

Make a list today of all that is really yours. I'm not talking about a detailed inventory sheet of your personal possessions, your cars, your books, your money. This list should instead focus on everything that is truly yours, everything that can never be taken from you.

Yes, even the paid for house and car can be taken.

You’ll find that this list features intangibles. Your relationships, your outlook, your perspective, your goodness, your attitude, your reactions—all the internal things you reside over. Everything else is external and can be taken away.

We’re quite fragile when our hopes and dreams are trapped in material containers that can quickly disappear by the hand of another.