3 Simple Stoic Principles To Add To Your Life Today
Fortify your mind with the wisdom from the great Stoic Philosophers
“A Stoic is someone who transforms fear into prudence, pain into transformation, mistakes into initiation, and desire into undertaking.”
Taleb Nassim Nicholas
The trend of acquiring knowledge from Stoic philosophy has sparked a lot of interest lately in many inquisitive minds. Searching for answers from the greats of before to implement their wisdom for their own journey through life.
We as a society often want to go at things alone. Thinking we know what's best without the help of others. Studying the philosophers of the past allows us to further our own personal development.
Who better to learn about the mind's capability than from Stoic philosophers?
Minds such as Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus and Seneca have sparked the interest in self-development for those wanting to follow in their footsteps. Being in a fast-paced world where attention has shortened, the short one-line sentence format from the Stoics has aged like fine wine.
With thousands of quotes to choose from, three have been selected to help you implement them into your life today! Without further ado, let's look at the first quote.
“It is difficulties that show what men are”
— Epictetus
We often strive for a brighter future with no worry in sight. A life full of ups with no downs. Success after success. But what lessons can be learnt from constantly getting what you want?
In today’s society, instant gratification is acquired through little difficulties. Everything is accessible through the click of a button. In theory, one doesn’t need to leave their home for the entirety of their lives. Life is not meant to be lived like this.
Shying away from adversity only dims the light of the human spirit as internally our higher selves know what we are capable of accomplishing. Without challenge and hardship growth of the human mind is unattainable. The mind becomes a pile of mush receiving quick dopamine fixes and running from failure.
When faced with difficulties, view them as ways to build character. Our perception can change the way we perceive any situation. A problem at hand can be seen as an impossible task to overcome or by changing how we view it, it can be the path to greater success.
Another way to view difficulties in life is to look back at the challenges we’ve faced and conquered before. Remembering the lack of confidence beforehand and the amount of courage gained when completing the task. This will give us the knowledge that we have faced adversity before and are sure to face it again in the future.
“You always own the option of having no opinion”
— Marcus Aurelius
In the life that we live, we have the power of free will. The freedom of choice to be able to do and think whatever we choose. As a child though, we are conditioned to think a certain way which paves the way into our adulthood where those thoughts and beliefs are cemented.
When something occurs, whether that's a positive or negative, we often revert back to our default way of thinking to react to the situation. The response to the problem falls back to the programming of the younger self.
In this dualistic world, we have good or bad, light or dark, true or false, and so on and so on. But the individual determines what that may be. A positive for one may be entirely negative for another.
Looking at the quote from Marcus Aurelius and applying it to our own lives can prove to seem illogical. To abstain from having an opinion. However, this can serve us in many ways. If for instance someone disagrees with you or finds a way to get under your skin, your initial reaction may be to fight back.
Using the quote to its advantage we can simply let the other person's emotions roll off us like water off a duck's back. Our programmed way of thinking may be to snap back, instead re-train the mind to view each circumstance as non-dualistic.
A scorching hot summer's day and a drizzly winter's afternoon are just two different types of weather. The opinion of it being good or bad comes from the individual's perception.
“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality”
— Seneca
How often do we over analyse a future event to the finest detail and yet none of the imagined scenarios takes place? Far too often to count. By trying to predict the future outcome we are causing twice as much suffering to ourselves.
If what we imagine the future to be comes to fruition then not only do we suffer the outcome but also the constant dread of it taking place. It’s as if you shoot yourself in the foot and ask who pulled the trigger.
Over-contemplating the future can be addicting. Our fight or flight instinct kicks into gear and we are speeding down the highway with no hands on the steering wheel. We feel as if we imagine every possible scenario then we have prepared our best for the worst.
Rather we can put our internal energy to better use by cultivating a positive frequency of gratitude and abundance. Manifest a future of prosperity by thinking in tune with harmony instead of worrying about failure.
Life's greatest lessons often come unexpectedly. After all, how can life teach you something new if you think you know all the outcomes? Improvise and adapt your frequency to be able to be calm under any given circumstance. Practising self-care and discipline will help you on the road to letting go of suffering through mental imagery.
Takeaway
The mind is a powerful tool. Left unattended it will rot away, but when maintained, it can be forged into a well-oiled machine serving you in as many ways as possible.
By using the wisdom from Stoic philosophers the mind begins to turn its cogs and understand what it is capable of. The inner self begins to shine when turning the words into action and embodying what is being read.
Each quote can be interpreted in different ways. The inner self is the one who decodes the information and digests what is necessary. Along the way, we may re-read the quotes and understand them in an entirely different fashion.
Use the three quotes from today's article to help shift you onto the right path.
- Begin to re-train the mind to be indifferent to other people's opinions.
- Embrace the unknown and stop suffering from mental imagery
- Face adversity head-on as the best lessons are learnt through hardships and failures.
