Stoicism for a Better Life – Weekly exercise (February 21, 2021)
Hello there,
This is a time of year that is often difficult for most. The high of the holidays is gone, financials have been stretched, there is a lack of sun for many northern climates, there is no time off, etc… This year, all of this is compounded with the effects of the pandemic of course, and as a species we are suffering.
As Stoics, we have some tools at our disposal. Our school teaches us to observe and note all external events (including the body and its emotions) with a sense of indifference. We associate value to things we can control, as value being associated with externals that are out of control is akin to gambling with our happiness. Roll the dice and you may be happy depending on what fortune has in store for you…otherwise you’ll be miserable and in angst. It sound more like a prison sentence and torture than anything else. This is why we practice focusing on our own thoughts and judgments (our prohairesis) as this is entirely within our control.
This is from Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations IV 49:
“Be like the promontory against which the waves continually break; but it stands form and tames the fury of the water around it”
Simple and to the point. What he’s reminding himself in his meditations (and defacto educating posterity) is that nothing that is external actually has domain over you and your ruling faculty. Nothing external can penetrate your physical brain, go inside and make you think a certain way or act a certain way.
So as a practical exercise this week remind yourself daily that you are in control and you chose to give up control to externals. Write daily in your journal that externals cannot penetrate your squishy bits and make you think or do anything. Everything is always in your control and if you choose, you can do the right thing regardless of what is happening and what your body is feeling and wants to do. No matter what happens externally, be the same, unchanged and an unhindered virtuous being.
Anderson Silver