"VAN" (Europe Bureau - Aleksey Vesyoliy) :: Human history has never been free from adversity. War, plagues and natural disasters have caused suffering and death. We are living in a time with constant doubt, fear and uncertainty. A crisis can make you better, but only if you have the right mindset. Some lessons can include: to become stronger, learn to let go of the past, communicate more clearly, trust your gut feeling, to forgive and grow. Life is a blessing, do not forget to keep enjoying it. Life never stops moving and evolving. Time does heal and you will find yourself moving again, but you will need to do it in your own way. Hardships are part of growing.
Where do we find strength in hard times? Do hard times make us better?
The ancient Stoics had their fair of share of hardship. In hard times of uncertainty, many people start worrying about their stable and comfortable lives falling apart. Stoics had some profound things to say dealing with external circumstances and how to live peacefully in the face of hardship and a troubled future.
Philosophy is not just about talking or reading dense books, it is something humans have used throughout history to reach their personal and professional achievements. This Stoicism wisdom is still there and is considered the most practical of all philosophies. The Stoics’ wisdom is still very relevant and may help bring calm to the chaos we face today.
Ask yourself: "What is this situation meant to teach me?"
Life is fragile. Spend your time wisely and appreciate life. Life is meant to be lived, deeply felt and enjoyed. Science is showing that taking on challenges stimulates cell growth in the brain. This helps us cope and build resilience.
"Get comfortable being uncomfortable" says an old military saying. We have little control over most of the external circumstances, but what we do have control over is the way we react. If you can be comfortable being uncomfortable, you'll be prepared to handle whatever situation comes along in your own life.
Global pandemic has turned our lives upside down and many of us are experiencing fear, pain, anxiety and loss. While we have control over many things, we can not control everything that happens to us. Uncertainty is a natural and unavoidable part of our life. Everything to come is uncertain. The global COVID-19 pandemic has heightened uncertainty over all aspects of our lives even our physical and mental health. Stoic philosopher Seneca reminds us: "The whole future lies in uncertainty: live immediately." While many things remain outside our control, our mindset is the key element coping with difficult circumstances and facing the unknown.
What is Stoicism?
Stoicism was founded in Athens in the early 3rd century BC. The four virtues of Stoicism are wisdom, justice, courage and temperance. The central wisdom is that happiness and judgment should be based on behavior, rather than words. Temperance is subdivided into self-control, discipline and modesty.
Stoicism sets out to remind us of how unpredictable the world can be. How brief our moment of life is. How to be steadfast and strong, and in control of yourself. The source of our dissatisfaction lies in our impulsive dependency on our reflexive senses rather than logic.
The very root of the Stoicism thinking is a very simple: take the obstacles in your life and turn them into your advantage
Stoicism was famously practiced by ancient Stoic philosophers who came from almost every imaginable background. One was a slave, another was emperor. One was a water carrier, another a famous playwright. Some were merchants, others were independently wealthy. Some were Senators and others were soldiers. What they all had in common was the philosophy that they practiced. Whether they were chafing under the shackles of slavery or leading the Roman army, they focused not on the external world but on what was solely in their own control: Their own thoughts, their own actions, their beliefs.
The most influential stoics were Epictetus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius.
Roman Emperor Marcus Aurelius, born nearly two millennia ago, is perhaps the best known Stoic leader in the history. Marcus Aurelius, the emperor of the Roman Empire, the most powerful man on earth, sat down each day to write himself notes about restraint, compassion and humility.
The second most prominent Stoic in history is Seneca who was born in southern Spain over 2 000 years ago and educated in Rome. He was the son of Seneca the Elder, a well regarded Roman writer as well as later in his life uncle to the poet Lucan. Seneca pursued a career in politics and became a high-ranking financial clerk. Seneca, when Nero turned on him and demanded his suicide, could think only of comforting his wife and friends.
Epictetus was born nearly 2 000 years ago in Hierapolis (present-day Pamukkale in Turkey) as a slave in a wealthy household. Epaphroditus, his owner, gave him the permission to pursue liberal studies and it is how Epictetus discovered philosophy through the Stoic Musonius Rufus who became his teacher and mentor. Later, Epictetus obtained his freedom shortly after emperor Nero’s death and started teaching philosophy in Rome for nearly 25 years. Epictetus endured the horrors of slavery to found his own school where he taught many of Rome’s greatest minds.
Stoicism doesn’t concern itself with complicated theories about the world, but with helping us overcome destructive emotions and act on what can be acted upon. The key of Stoicism is an action, not endless debate.
The Stoics were writing honestly, often self-critically, about how they could become better people, be happier and deal with the problems they faced. You can see how practicing misfortune makes you stronger in the face of adversity; how flipping an obstacle upside down turns problems into opportunities, and remembering how small you are keeps your ego manageable and in perspective.
Stoics were all men of action. Marcus Aurelius wrote to himself a simple and effective reminder to help him regain perspective and stay balanced: "Run down the list of those who felt intense anger at something: the most famous, the most unfortunate, the most hated, the most whatever: Where is all that now? Smoke, dust, legend or not even a legend. Think of all the examples and how trivial the things we want so passionately are."
Luckily, we still have access to these ideas, despite the fact that many of the greatest Stoics never wrote anything down for publication. "Meditations" is the only document with the private thoughts of the world’s most powerful man — Marcus Aurelius- giving advice to himself on how to make good on the responsibilities and obligations of his positions. Trained in Stoic philosophy, Marcus Aurelius, stopped almost every night to practice a series of spiritual exercises: reminders designed to make him humble, patient, empathetic, generous, and strong in the face of whatever he was dealing with.
Stoicism has been practiced by kings, presidents, artists, writers, entrepreneurs and many others. Both historical and modern men illustrate Stoicism as a way of life.
George Washington was introduced to Stoicism by his neighbors at age seventeen, and afterwards, put on a play about Cato to inspire his men in that dark winter at Valley Forge. Thomas Jefferson had a copy of Seneca on his nightstand when he died. The economist Adam Smith’s theories on the inter connectedness of the world — capitalism — were significantly influenced by the Stoicism that he studied as a schoolboy, under a teacher who had translated Marcus Aurelius’ works. The political thinker, John Stuart Mill, wrote of Marcus Aurelius and Stoicism in his famous treatise "On Liberty", calling it "the highest ethical product of the ancient mind." Theodore Roosevelt, after his presidency, spent eight months exploring the unknown jungles of the Amazon, and of the eight books he brought on the journey, two were Marcus Aurelius’ "Meditations" and Epictetus’ "Enchiridion".
Stoicism emerged as a life-affirming philosophy for existence and sustenance of the soul, with the power to strengthen the human spirit against the challenges of daily life, the assaults of the world and most of all, its own weaknesses.
How to worry less in hard times?
The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius was the last famous Stoic philosopher and during the last 14 years of his life he faced one of the worst plagues in European history. Roman historians describe the legions being devastated and entire towns and villages being depopulated and going to ruin. Rome itself was particularly badly affected, carts leaving the city each day piled high with dead bodies. In the middle of this plague, the reflections by Marcus Aurelius known as "The Meditations", which records the moral and psychological advice he gave himself at this time. He frequently applies Stoic philosophy to the challenges of coping with pain, illness, anxiety and loss. "The Meditations" is like a manual for developing precisely the mental resilience skills required to cope with a pandemic.
Marcus Aurelius was asking himself: "What virtue has nature given me to deal with this situation?" That leads to the question: "How do other people cope with similar challenges?"
Stoics reflect on character strengths such as wisdom, patience and self-discipline, which potentially make them more resilient in the face of adversity. They try to exemplify these virtues and bring them to bear on the challenges they face in daily life, during a crisis like the pandemic. They learn from other people and even historical figures or fictional characters can serve as role models.
Worry and anxiety may ruin your life and drive you crazy. "We are more often frightened than hurt and we suffer more from imagination than from reality," has said Seneca.
In extreme cases some people may even take their own lives. We can see how fear can do more harm than the things of which we are afraid because it can impinge on our physical health and quality of life. The virus can only harm your body – the worst it can do is kill you. However, fear penetrates into the moral core of our being. It can destroy your humanity if you let it. For the Stoics that is a fate worse than death.
During times of pandemic, you may have to confront possibility of your own death. We live in denial of the self-evident fact that we all die eventually. The Stoics believed that when we are confronted with our own mortality and grasp its implications that can change our perspective on life. Any one of us could die at any moment. "All that comes to pass", Marcus Aurelius tells himself, even illness and death. Marcus Aurelius had taught himself to face death with the steady calm of someone who has done so countless times already in the past.
The single most important practice in Stoic philosophy is differentiating between what we can change and what we can’t.
What we have influence over and what we do not. No matter how hard you try, you can’t make someone like you and on top of that, time spent hurling yourself at these immovable objects is time not spent on the things we can change.
Forgive yourself and have self compassion. Ask yourself : "What did I do well today?" " What did I do bad?" "Why did this occur?" "How can I improve?" Now you know how you can improve tomorrow, but don’t beat yourself up.
Researches show that it is forgiving yourself — not beating yourself up- that prevents you from continuing put things off. Don not be critical of yourself. Think about what you did well and you can repeat it tomorrow. Be grateful for the good that happened today.
"Choose not to be harmed and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed and you haven’t been." - Marcus Aurelius
Stoicism, as Marcus Aurelius reminds himself, is not some grand Instructor but a balm, a soothing ointment to an injury wherever we might have one. Epictetus was right when he said that "life is hard, brutal, punishing, narrow, and confining, a deadly business." We should take whatever help we can get, and it just happens that help can come from ourselves. If you don’t control what you think, you can not control what you do. Motivation gets you going, discipline keeps you growing. This is why we can not let externals determine whether something was worth it or not. The key to success lies within us.
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Publication author: Sintija Bernava
Chairwoman of the Board, Non Governmental Organisation "Donum Animus" (Latvia)
"Donum Animus" is the only Non Governmental Organisation from Latvia holding Special Consultative Status of the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations
European Union Coordinator, WG4 "People to people contacts", EaP CSF
Please find full article with pictures at EUNetwork.lv!
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