Saturday

Shen Wang
Shen Wang
Aug 26, 2017 · 2 min read

It is odd to me that when a something bad happens to a person, he can calmly assess the situation and say ‘I can bear it without getting upset, or crushed by the present nor afraid of the future’. To me emotions are what make us humans, emotions can obscure our judgment and influence us into bad decisions but other times it can motivate us to do good. In my opinion, without emotions and impulses we are basically robots.

I have to say, I am a person that becomes anxious quite easily; I stress about things both long term and in the immediate future. To me this method of preparation for adversity is more beneficial in the aspects of identitfying what is in you control and what isn’t, and also recognising that the things I worry about aren’t necesarily bad things. However, I am largely skeptical about the premeditation aspect of this method. I believe that without perfect utilisation of the first aspect, the premeditation will only help you become more anxious as you are in anticipation of the bad things that ‘will’ happen because you are not yet able to distinguish between your impressions and what is actually ‘bad’. The ability to differ between the two isn’t an easy task. As human beings, we are subject to emotions that obscure our rational thinking, which will in turn hinder our ability to differ between impressions and what is actually ‘bad’. Assuming my previous statement were to be true then with premeditation, it would increase our anxiety level. That is why I am skeptical of the method.

The evening text is a great lesson and especially applicable to modern life where distractions are everywhere. However, the wording of the text led me to understand why people are convinced Marcus is morbidly obsessed with death. Through out “Meditations” he repeatedly mentions and teaches to anticipate ‘death’;in this text he teaches to do everything as if it were your last.

Stoic Week

Daily reflections on living as a stoic

)

Welcome to a place where words matter. On Medium, smart voices and original ideas take center stage - with no ads in sight. Watch
Follow all the topics you care about, and we’ll deliver the best stories for you to your homepage and inbox. Explore
Get unlimited access to the best stories on Medium — and support writers while you’re at it. Just $5/month. Upgrade