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January 13 - January 18, 2020
by neither fire nor steel, tyrant nor public censure.6 The poet Horace also employed this image of the pure sphere when describing the Stoic ideal of a wise man who is master of himself, undaunted by poverty, chains, or death, defying
Marcus describes part of his morning routine—preparing himself for the day ahead by anticipating various obstacles.
visualize failure, not success !
doorstep of Rome itself. He seized his chance at the height of the Antonine Plague, when the Romans were weak and troops normally garrisoned along the Danube were still returning
Inoculating ourselves against stress and anxiety through the Stoic premeditation of adversity is one of the most useful techniques for building general emotional resilience, which is what psychologists call the long-term ability to endure stressful situations without becoming
One of the most robustly established findings in the entire field of modern psychotherapy research is the fact that anxiety tends to abate naturally during prolonged exposure to feared situations, under normal conditions.
the feared situation must be experienced for considerably longer than normal for anxiety to properly habituate. In fact, if exposure is terminated too soon, the technique may actually backfire and increase anxiety and sensitization to the feared situation.
is the most important process to take place during imaginal exposure,
He tells himself that resilience comes from his ability to regain his composure wherever he finds himself. This is the “inner citadel” to which he can retreat, even on the frigid battlefields of the northern campaign.
The universe is change: life is opinion.
their real goal was to change our opinions about external events, not just our feelings.
decatastrophizing, or learning to downgrade the perceived severity of a threat from “total catastrophe” to a more realistic level.
Another simple and powerful technique is to ask yourself how you would feel about the situation that worries you in ten or twenty years’ time, looking back on it from the future.
Severe worrying can often feel out of control, but, perhaps surprisingly, it’s actually a relatively conscious and voluntary type of thinking.
There’s a tendency, ironically, for people struggling with anxiety to try too hard to control involuntary aspects of the emotion while neglecting to take control of the voluntary aspects.
“worry postponement.” He asked a group of college students to spot the times during a four-week period when they began to worry about something and to respond by postponing thinking about it any further until a specified “worry time” later in the day.
“Lose your mind and come to your senses!”
among the enemy tribes until he was finally able to divide and conquer them. Cassius’s reward was to retain imperium throughout the eastern provinces, granting
of resistance among the northern tribes, and he doesn’t want the barbarians along the Danube getting wind of the crisis back home while negotiations for peace are still
Socrates and the Stoics taught, no man does wrong knowingly.
of the ancient virtue. However, if anyone should disbelieve it, that merely strengthens my desire, in order that men may see accomplished with
titled On Anger, which survives today, describes the Stoic theory and treatment of
person such as Socrates or Zeno would do. What virtues might help you to respond wisely? In your case, it might be easier to think of a role model you’re more familiar with, like Marcus Aurelius or someone you’ve
encountered in your own life. (“A wiser person would try to empathize,
Stoics think of troublesome people as if they are a prescription from a physician, or a training partner we’ve been assigned by a wrestling coach. We exist for one another, says Marcus,
CONSIDER A PERSON’S CHARACTER AS A WHOLE The next strategy involves picturing the person you’re angry with in a more rounded and complete manner—don’t just focus on the aspects of their character or behavior you find most annoying.
you, with all their errors exposed. If you can picture this, eventually it will seem absurd to you that their blame or praise ever carried any real authority.8 Indeed, the wise man
are alienated from themselves. We must learn to empathize with them and see them as the victims of misguided beliefs or errors of judgment, not as malicious. Marcus says that
NOBODY DOES WRONG WILLINGLY
one of the central paradoxes of Socrates’s philosophy and was embraced by the Stoics: no man does evil knowingly, which also entails that no man does it willingly.
it’s because they don’t know any better. As Socrates pointed out, nobody wants
Once you really understand their thinking, you’ll have no excuse for being surprised at their actions, which should naturally weaken your feelings of
Epictetus therefore advised his students simply to repeat this maxim to themselves: “It seemed right to
without knowing someone’s intentions, we can never really be sure they’re doing wrong. People can do things that appear bad for what they believe are good reasons.
anger assumes an unwarranted certainty about the motives of other people. Cognitive therapists call this the fallacy of “
wrong.13 Consider that other plausible interpretations of their actions exist. Keeping an open mind will help you dilute your feelings of anger. 6. REMEMBER WE ALL WILL DIE Marcus tells himself to focus on the transience of the events in the grand scheme of things. He suggests contemplating the fact that both he and the person with whom he’s angry will eventually be dead and forgotten. When viewed
toward Cassius’s rebellion. Remember that
join him in his misery by making the value judgment that he has offended and harmed
Cassius when he warns himself not to feel toward his enemies as they feel toward him. Likewise, you shouldn’t start to harbor the sort of opinions the wicked hold
given man as a response to the wrongdoing in question?” He explains this by comparing virtues to medicines prescribed by Nature as the “antidotes” to vice.20
Therefore, it would be irrational to expect otherwise. “To crave impossibilities is insanity, but it is impossible for
visualize failure, not success !
with anger is the first gift from Apollo and his Muses: he reminds himself to view others as his kinsmen, brothers, or sisters, and that Nature meant for people to work together.
by the calm demeanor with which he faces adversity—even this, the greatest in a series of betrayals. Rome is in a state of hysteria following the news of Cassius’s sedition, made worse by the Senate’s knee-jerk response. The people
not celebrate. By forgiving the rebel legions, he had inadvertently signed Cassius’s death warrant. Cassius’s men simply had no more reason to fight the superior army approaching them from the north. The only thing between them and their pardon was Cassius, who refused
in my meditations? Everything is different, but underneath it’s all the same: anonymous individuals marrying, raising children, falling sick, and dying. Some fight wars, feast, work the land, and trade their wares. Some flatter others
The slaves stood with us in the chariots,
he once tripped and fell. He banged on the ground and quipped: “I come of my own accord;
harm than death itself because it turns us into cowards, whereas death merely returns us to Nature. The wise and good enjoy life, without a doubt,
a small span of time? In any case, from another point of view, we don’t disappear into nothingness but are dispersed back into Nature. I shall be returned to the earth from which my
For everything comes ultimately from one source and returns there taking another form.
swiftly across the world, or to consume grand vistas, enveloping more and more within its scope. Roaming dreamily over the whole wide world and bidding it
