Guard the part that decides

On a job site you don't walk a plank floor without looking down. Nails, gaps, a loose board — you place each foot, because the cost of not looking is your foot. Most of us guard the body that carefully and leave the mind wide open. A nasty comment in the group chat, a rumor about layoffs, a coworker's sour mood — they walk straight in and set up shop, and an hour later you're carrying a temper that wasn't yours when the shift started.

Epictetus put the two kinds of care side by side: "As, in walking, you take care not to tread upon a nail, or turn your foot; so likewise take care not to hurt the ruling faculty of your mind. And, if we were to guard against this in every action, we should undertake the action with the greater safety" (Enchiridion 38, Carter). Same vigilance, aimed inward. The barista, the bus driver, the parent refereeing a sibling fight — each can choose what gets to land.

This is yesterday's move sharpened: not just refusing to be run by the body, but watching the door to the part of you that decides.