Stoicism for a Better Life – Weekly exercise (April 5, 2020)

Hello there,

If there was a trophy for “most likely candidate to make it as a stand-up comedian” award for our ancient Stoic guides, then it would be unanimously awarded to Epictetus. For this week’s exercise, I will use some words from his Enchiridion VII: 

“Don’t seek everything to happen as you wish it would, but rather wish that everything happens as it actually will – then our life will flow well.”

Epictetus had a way of cutting through the bull excrement and get his students straight to the point: Change your attitude and your world will change. Precepts like “all is opinion” are very difficult to consistently apply in real life, but this difficulty does not take away from their universal truth.  We do not have to work hard to understand or accept it’s undeniable logic and truth. We must, however, work hard at strengthening our faculty which drives our opinion, so that we can have better opinions more often. This faculty is our rational mind’s judgments, or what the Stoics called our Prohairesis. 

One way we can strengthen our opinions is to repeat the good precepts through lecture, writing and meditation as a form of education. This helps re-ingrain that undeniable logic, to replace our primitive and (often) childish views of our world. So as a practical exercise this week, when you feel negatively about an event stop and ask yourself this simple question – “Which of these is easiest to change: your opinion or the event that is past?” 

Accept what happened and don’t wish it hadn’t. Instead, like Epictetus reminds us, accept that the universe goes the way it does, and you’re floating along with it. Just be happy being a part of it. Don’t wish the universe to be any different. Wish it to be exactly the way it is, because that means you get to be here with it right now!

As always, I wish you a wise, tranquil and productive week.

Anderson Silver

(Author of “Your User’s Manual” and “Vol 2: Your Duality Within”)