OfPonderingWandering

What do Marcus Aurelius, Jesus, Ali, and José Mujica have in common? Discover how character can be your compass in the chaos of inner transformation.

As we continue on our journey to free ourselves from ourselves, we will come face to face with some of our most hurtful and repressed memories. This experience is all too scary, disorienting, and uncomfortable. Worst yet, we get swept away in the torrents of emotional storms. What we need is a compass to navigate this storm; we will find this in our character. 

Now, what exactly is character? Textbooks define character as ‘a collection of an individual’s personality traits.’ However, these definitions leave out something important: our capacity to consciously lean into our character, like a crutch. 

Take honesty, for example, and look at how hard it can be for our conscious mind to answer it consciously! When we do something wrong, it is a lot easier for us to blame someone- anyone but ourselves. We become swept away in the delusion that we are not to blame, and when we are confronted, our mind is torn between telling a lie and speaking the truth. 

The storm can be paralyzing! Think of how dreadful confrontation can be, but what if it isn’t? What if we could be honest without all of this conscious resistance? This is where the support of our character comes in. With the development of a strong character, we can delegate all tough decisions to the constant that is our character. 

Let’s say, at work, you and your team get blamed for a serious mistake. Yet, your boss offers you a convenient way out, dooming the others to take the blame. You feel torn, but if you have built your character off honesty, the choice becomes clear and the paralysis departs. Yet, how do we get to such a state?

The Importance of Examples

Committing to ourselves is a lifelong process of both unlearning unhealthy patterns and learning healthy patterns. One of the best ways to learn healthy patterns is through modeling, where we base our behaviours on healthy and secure role models. 

In modern times, our access to secure role models is literally at our fingertips. So then, who should we choose to learn from? In this next section, I will pull exemplary characters from both Stoicism and Religion to show who I have learnt from. However, the choice lies within you!

For myself, the Stoic school of thought provided the most insight into character development. Stoicism, known as the philosophy of the good life, or even as a way of life, prides itself on its ability to churn out resilient and gritty human beings.

Consider their biographies: Epictetus, a formerly enslaved person turned philosopher who lived with a broken leg (Read The Enchiridion). We have Marcus Aurelius, a Roman Emperor who resisted worldly temptations, trudging through plagues, war, and the death of his children (Read Meditations). And even in a time of Rome’s financial need, he hosted a yard sale of his palace possessions. Lastly, we have Seneca, who faced court-ordered suicide with calmness and surrender (Read Letters From a Stoic).

Now, what do all of these individuals have in common? A strong character, even amid anguish. In Aurelius’ Meditations, we see a struggling human reassuring and soothing himself again and again, through reflecting on attributes that form a strong character; through brutal storms, our character becomes our compass. 

Now, turning to religion, we can see examples of character in essential figures. A story outlining an interesting attribute is the story of Jesus Christ and the dead dog.

One day, Jesus and his disciples stumbled across a dead dog. His disciples were understandably disgusted and commented so. Yet, Jesus challenged them with a change of perspective, through commenting on the dog’s shiny white teeth.

Pulling from the Islamic tradition, we can also find an example of character in Rumi’s retelling of one of Ali’s (A companion of the Prophet) duels. In this duel, just as Ali had thrown his opponent to the ground, he was prepared to finish him off. The opponent spat in his face. Ali then sheathed his sword and walked away from the now vulnerable man. The opponent questioned Ali in a shocked manner. Ali replied, ‘You have caused me anger; if I were to kill you now, it would be an act of ego.’ 

Stories and retellings of exemplary excellence surround us, but what about modern figures? Here, we will learn about José Mujica.

Nicknamed the ‘World’s Poorest President’, Mujica was anything but. With a strong sense of morals and discipline, he served as Uruguay’s president from 2010 to 2015, ushering in a new era of progressive politics in the region. 

A few keynotes of Mujica’s life that I would like to touch on include: Firstly, his refusal to move into a wealthy state home. Instead, he prefers to live humbly on his farm [1]. Secondly, he donated up to 90% of his presidential salary to charities [1]. And lastly, his character in death. 

Mujica’s character is powerful and willed. How many of us can resist the temptations of moving into a larger, more luxurious home? And how many of us are willing to give up large sums of our money to charities? Mujica was an incredibly altruistic man, and one that we can all learn from. 

Now we turn to the magnum opus of Mujica’s character- His actions in death. While I haven’t found verified sources for every detail, we know that Mujica was diagnosed with cancer in 2024 [2]. The illness spread, and he later passed away on May 13, 2025. During his battle with cancer, an unconfirmed legend started to circulate. Speaking to his strong moral character, Mujica may have been offered elite treatment. But he declined, instead humbly waiting in line at a public hospital like any other citizen. Mujica’s story teaches us about integrity and honesty, and how these traits are fit to not only rule oneself, but a country as well.

As we begin to wrap this blog up, I want to remind us that once more, to live life is to be faced with challenging and paralyzing questions that we may not always have the answer to. But, as we continue to model our character after figures of morality, strength, and virtue, our own character begins to grow and prosper. 

I will leave us with a quote from Mujica, 

‘You are going to grow old and you are going to have wrinkles, and one day you are going to look in the mirror and you will have to ask yourself, on that day, if you betrayed the child you had inside you.’ [2]

[1] https://steeringpoint.ie/worklife/what-can-a-dying-uruguayan-teach-you-about-life-hint-its-more-than-you-think

https://mronline.org/2025/05/17/life-and-death-of-jose-mujica-the-guerrilla-fighter-who-became-president [2]