One of the main pillars of the Stoic philosophy is to focus on what is within your control and not worry about anything else.

This can be, and usually is, interpreted as focus on your own thoughts and actions and recognize that there are so many things in this world that you cannot affect. For example, you cannot fix the traffic jam but you can control how you drive.

There’s a further aspect of this, especially in the world of television and social media, that both Seneca and Marcus Aurelius touch on: the idea that a lot of things are simply none of our business. What an actor or a sports figure or even a politician says or does, in most cases, should not be important to us and we should not spend any time watching or listening to them. Wins and losses by other people, good luck or tragedy that happens to them, don’t actually impact how we live our own lives.

Why are we spending our time consuming news about their lives?

Obviously, there are rare circumstances where something happens that directly impacts us: a loss of a family member or close friend; a law that could potentially affect how we are legally allowed to act; weather or other potential disasters that directly affect our immediate region.

But most things in the news, on entertainment or reality TV, or on social media, if examined carefully and unemotionally, are not things that change our lives in any way whatsoever.

Instead, what they do is present a distorted view of reality which, if allowed to repeatedly enter our minds, can change the way we view the world (and not in a good way).

Can I do something (anything at all) about the issue that is presenting itself?

If so, should I do something about it? Is it my business and is it right for me to involve myself?

If the answer to both is yes, then go for it. Do the best you can about that thing.

More often than not, however, the answer to the first question is no and, even when you can do something, it’s quite a rare circumstance in which you should.