The freedom of choice, or how the Stoics call it, reasoned choice, is really about actively choosing our response rather than reactively going with the default response. In order to be able to do that, we need to bring awareness into the situation so we can spot our first impression and avoid getting carried away by it and respond reactively. The reactive response could be unvirtuous behavior and cause further unhealthy emotions such as anger, fear, or desire. Instead, if we’re able to step back from the initial impression, we can evaluate that impression rationally, look at other possible
...more
