Imagined Anxieties
Anxiety is our own construct. All emotions are temporary.
“Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems”
I recently read this quote by Greek Stoic philosopher Epictetus after hearing about Epictetus and stoicism in a podcast.
Stoicism
Stoicism is a school of Greek philosophy. According to stoicism, we find happiness through accepting each moment as it presents itself; by not allowing oneself to be controlled by the desire for pleasure or fear of pain. The Stoics teach that external things — such as health, wealth, and comfort — are not good or bad in themselves. (Source: Wikipedia.)
Stoicism provides a framework.
I often say that feelings are neither good nor bad; they simply are. External things have the value that we give them.
All feelings are temporary
We can practice non-attachment (different than “detachment”). We can remember that all emotions are temporary, whether they’re good or bad. That notion of the transience of feelings is one of the tools I use when I’m having a rough or suicidal day.
When others are experiencing “negative” emotions (e.g. discomfort, sadness), I point this out to them…
