CULTIVATED INFLUENCE

No one takes a soothsayer seriously until they serve their purpose.

“Beware the Ides of March.”

We get so consumed in ourselves that we lose sight of our surroundings, of people and how they can affect us. Find balance between self-awareness and awareness of others. Don’t get blindsided, like Caesar.

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If your demise could be foreseen, would you not want to know?

Brutus agrees to kill his friend Caesar for what he believes to be the greater good of Rome, for fear that a republic Rome would turn imperialistic, Caesar would be king, and for fear Romans would lose their freedom and become enslaved.

We all have been metaphorically Julius Caesar in some aspect of our lives, whether it be occupational, in love or anyhow: assumedly in total control when suddenly removed from a situation where a “Brutus”, sought not our cold blood, but what was thought to be the greater good at the time.

Brutus’s austere idealism proves to be a gift and a curse. Though Caesar did contend to become the outright leader of Rome, his assassination serves more harm than good. Civil unrest breaks out. It was not until Brutus impales himself on his own sword in a battle where victory seems implausible that some order is restored in Rome.

When people are nervous, we become fearful. When people are fearful, we seek change. Change isn’t simple; ripping a dollar in half doesn’t make change. When we seek change in our lives, we become desperate. Desperation can lead to miscalculation and hindsight is only agony and regret. We only have our better judgment to guide us, which serves us best when we are aware of how things affect us.

“Men at some times are the masters of their fates. The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings.”

Caesar never sees it coming. All there is to hope for is restored order.

-SG

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