“Constantly think of the universe as a single living being, comprised of a single substance and a single soul; and how all things issue into the single perception of this being, and how it accomplishes all things through a single impulse; and how all things work together to cause all that comes to be, and how intricate and densely woven is the fabric formed by their interweaving.” — Marcus Aurelius
In order for the world to exist as it does, all human beings — even those you don’t like — need to be exactly who they are, playing the specific roles they’re playing on the stage of life.
Those people who annoy you? They’re tiny cogs in a machine, just like you are; if one cog doesn’t do what it was made for, it affects the entire instrument. Our world needs smart people and not-so-smart people, hard workers and slackers, early birds and night owls.
The ancient Stoics taught us to think of ourselves as actors in a play. Every role in the production must be filled, whether big or small. But we don’t get to decide what happens on stage; the director does. He could cast you in the play as a poor person, a millionaire, a disabled person, an athlete, a person with a boring, average life — whatever he wants. Good actors will accept the roles that fate has given them and play their parts as well as they can.
It’s important to embrace the role you’ve been given. But it’s just as important to feel gratitude for others who are playing those roles that you wouldn’t want to have, anyway.