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May 19 - July 10, 2019
“Remember,” Epictetus continues, “that if you abide in the same principles, these men who first ridiculed will afterward admire you.”
Don’t mention that you’re into Stoicism, just live by it.
William Irvine shares in his book A Guide to the Good Life:
Demonstrate rather than instruct what you learn. Dive in.
PREPARING PRACTICES
Practice 1
The Stoic Art of Acquiescence: Accept And Love Whatever Happens
“O world, I am in tune with every note of thy great harmony. For me nothing is early, nothing late, if it be timely for thee. O Nature, all that thy season...
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“If this is the will of nature, then so be it.”
Marcus Aurelius has a trick to bring his will into harmony with reality. He compares what happens to us to what a doctor prescribes to us. Just like you take some medicine when a doctor tells you to, we should take external events as they are, because they’re like the medicine there to help us.
What happens to us is nature’s treatment to become better people.
Those things happen for us, not against us, even if i...
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YouTube video: The Story of the Chinese Farmer
Practice 2
Undertake Actions with a Reserve Clause
“I will sail across the ocean, if nothing preven...
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Plus, we’ll gain confidence because we’re not overly attached to the outcome.
The reserve clause implies two points: Do your very best to succeed . . . . . . and simultaneously know and accept that the outcome is beyond your direct control.
It comes down to this: Know that sometimes things will not go your way even if you do your best, and regardless of whether you deserved it or not. Don’t confuse your aspirations with how the universe should turn out.
Practice 3
What Stands in the Way Becomes the Way
“The impediment to action advances actions. What stands in the way becomes the...
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The Obstacle Is the Way.
Either we shrink or we grow.
Imagine a fire. Every obstacle gets consumed and used as fuel. If there’s nothing standing in the way, the fire dies. You are that fire.
“If you are pained by any external thing, it is not this thing that disturbs you, but your own judgment about it. And it is in your power to wipe out this judgment now.” Marcus Aurelius
And hey, this isn’t about wearing rose-tinted glasses.
Practice 4
Remind Yourself of the Impermanence of Things
“When giving your child or wife a kiss, repeat to yourself, ‘I am kissing ...
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The next time you say goodbye to a loved one, silently remind yourself that this might be your final parting. You’ll be less attached to them and if you see them again, you’ll appreciate it much more.
Practice 5
Contemplate Your Own Death
“I am not eternal, but a human being; a part of the whole, as an hour is of the day. Like an hour I must come and, lik...
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There’s nothing we fear more than our own death. This fear is irrational, say the Stoics, nothing but rumors from the living.
Stoics advise us to live as if today were our last day.
“When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive—to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love.”
Practice 6 Consider Everything as Borrowed from Nature
“We have no grounds for self-admiration, as though we were surrounded by our own possessions; they have been loaned to us. We may use and enjoy them, but the one who allotted his gift decides how long we are to be tenants; our duty is to keep ready the gifts we have been given for an indefinite time and to return them when called upon, making no complaint: it is a sorry debtor who abuses his creditor.” – Seneca
Do you truly own anything? Your car, laptop, cat? Your body, status, relationships? No, because all those thing...
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Fate, bad luck, or death can dispossess you of them wit...
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Seneca says, “it is a sorry debtor who abuses his creditor.”
Practice 7 Negative Visualization: Foreseeing Bad Stuff
“It is precisely in times of immunity from care that the soul should toughen itself beforehand for occasions of greater stress, and it is while Fortune is kind that it should fortify itself against her violence. In days of peace the soldier performs maneuvers, throws up earthworks with no enemy in sight, and wearies himself by unnecessary toil, in order that he may be equal when it is necessary. If you would not have a man flinch when the crisis comes, train him before it comes.” – Seneca
Think of this thought training as foresight. Before you go out and do something, ask yourself: What could go wrong? What obstacle could pop up? Where could I face difficulties?
That’s emotional resilience training.
Ryan Holiday expressed beautifully: “Devastation—that feeling that we’re absolutely crushed and shocked by an event—is a factor of how unlikely we considered that event in the first place.”
Only our reaction to it can be good or bad,
Seneca remind you that, “Fortune falls heavily on those for whom she’s unexpected. The one always on the lookout easily endures.”
Practice 8 Voluntary Discomfort
