Seneca told his friend Lucilius to choose his company carefully, because we absorb the people we spend time with—their calm or their chaos, their generosity or their bitterness. He wasn't being snobbish. He'd noticed that we soften and harden by who surrounds us, often without realizing it. You can't always choose who's in your life, but you do have some say in who you lean toward. Spend a little more time with the ones who bring out your better self, and a little less with the ones who pull you small. And remember you're someone else's company too—try to be the kind that makes others steadier and kinder, the way you'd want around you.

Inspired by the old idea of sympatheia. Written by Ugo Charles.