Stoicism for a Better Life – Weekly exercise (October 25, 2020)

Hello there, 

For this week’s exercise, let us find some inspiration from Epictetus (who’s teacher will be our inspiration next week). This is from the Enchiridion (not to be confused with Epictetus’ Discourses) LI 2 :

“…it depends on a single day and single action whether progress is to be lost or secured. ”  

All we have control over with 100% certainty is our judgments and thoughts in the present moment or the “Here and Now”. We also know that we are only truly living (a big distinction from being alive) while we are engaged in the “Here and Now” with our rational minds (this is what some refer to as being mindful). Therefore our lives can be summed up in one single continuous sequence of present moments.

If we can truly accept the past as being in the past and out of our control and remain focused on our efforts right here and right now, then we can also accept that whatever we did in the past is meaningless as far as the goodness of our moral characters is concerned. Virtue is not found in the list of past accomplishments, but in our current efforts right now.  

So as a practical exercise this week, try and live with a singular focus on your current efforts. Don’t think about what bad things you did earlier in the day or week. No matter how many bad choices you made in the past (right up to this present moment), you have the choice to be virtuous and make good decisions right now. Along the same lines, no matter how virtuous you may have been in the past, those are already done and gone. You cannot make ignoble choices right now, with the impunity of knowing you made ten good choices earlier in the day. Each moment is a new opportunity to show our moral goodness and the way we show it is through our judgments and choices for actions in the present moment.

I hope you find this exercise inspirational. If you feel like it, I would encourage you to share some of your experiences. It may very well help inspire others. 

Anderson Silver

(Author of “Your User’s Manual”, “Vol 2: Your Duality Within”, and Vol 3: Your Dichotomy of Control)