The Stoic Ponderer

 "Is a world without pain possible? Then don't ask the impossible"  - Marcus Aurelius To suffer is to live. Often we think to ourselves:  Why is this happening to me? Why couldn't life be more forgiving? fairer? better? Why do I have to suffer? Stop. Just stop for one second and think about the nature of these questions. Because if you truly get down to the core of them, they are not only debilitating but also illogical and irrational. The fact of the matter is: Suffering is an essential and integral part of life. "What kind of bleak message is this?" you might be asking yourself. But right there is where you made your second blunder. For this is as anti-bleak as it can get. Answer me this question: How would you know that any good actually exists? Your answer might be: By seeing it. By experiencing it. By feeling it. But again you're missing the point, which is: To know that anything good exists is to see the bad and the neutral of that thing, to distin

 "This is what you deserve. You could be good today. But instead, you choose tomorrow."  - Marcus Aurelius For how long?  For how long will you choose to remain stagnant? For how long will you postpone the things you should and have to do? For how long will you choose to settle for a life not worthy of your potential? You could act, now. Not in a minute, not in an hour, not tomorrow, not when the time is right. NOW. ONLY NOW IS THE TIME FOR ACTION. Develop in yourself this urgency to prevail, to persevere, to do the things that you need to do, as your nature demands. I know that it is easier said than done, but best believe me when I say that THIS is what makes the difference between a life where you are proud of yourself, of all of your efforts, and a life wishing you could've done more of that which make you alive, or requires your courage. For only one thing is to be feared: REGRET. You have the same amount of time allotted to you as everyone else does; stop squanderin

  "Man, what are you talking about? Me in chains? You may fetter my leg, but Zeus himself cannot get the better of my free will."  - Epictetus       The path to becoming unaffected by anything is possible if you realize this one thing:   YOU CONTROL YOUR CHOICES OF HOW YOU  THINK, RESPOND, AND ACT How many times have we been distressed about things happening to us that are outside of those three things (our thinking, response, and action)?     More than we can begin to count.   That is simply because we have been programmed to do so daily more times than we can recall.   But let us ponder the quote above.   Here we have Epictetus, who was a born slave, having a hypothetical dialog with a non-stoic about HINDERANCE.   While the other party is giving various examples of how they feel a stoic could be hindered (i.e shackles, imprisonment, death), Epictetus is STATING that a true stoic  CAN NOT BE HINDERED IN ANY WAY.   Why?   Because

"If a man knows not to which port he sails, no wind is favourable."   - Seneca  This quote touches on a very important point that is of the utmost necessity for the success of anyone who embarks on a journey of doing anything in life: To Keep The End Goal In Mind When doing anything one must always have in consideration the WHY. Take a moment to reflect on the things you constantly do and ask yourself:  WHY AM I DOING THIS THING? WHAT IS MY END GOAL? WHAT DO I WANT TO ACHIEVE OUT OF THIS? OUR PLANS ARE DESTINED TO MISS THEIR TARGETS IF WE DO NOT HAVE AN EXACT AIM BEHIND THE PLANNING. Now you might not like the answer to these questions, which is a good thing. For now, you have managed to identify something that you either need to adjust or to negate in order to go along with whatever your desired end goal might be. The concept of knowing why you do a certain thing and how it fits into the bigger picture of your end goal is essential for your success in reaching that goal. If

"Caretake this moment. Immerse yourself in its particulars. Respond to this person, this challenge, this deed. Quit evasions. Stop giving yourself needless trouble. It is time to really live; to fully inhabit the situation you happen to be in NOW."  - Epictetus Presence is the essence. In today's day and age, it is no secret that our attention spans have, and are still decreasing rapidly. We have become slaves accustomed to instant gratifications in almost every aspect of our modern daily lives. We have glorified convenience over pretty much everything else, including human suffering. Now don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to paint you a gloomy picture of modern-day society, rather my objective is to pinpoint a very detrimental aspect of our current way of living, that is not to get better unless attention is drawn to it... No pun intended. Okay, so what does that have to do with the above-mentioned quote from Epictetus or stoicism? Several things, most notably v

"THE HAPPINESS OF YOUR LIFE DEPENDS UPON THE QUALITY OF YOUR THOUGHTS"      - Marcus Aurelius      A happy mind equates to a happy soul. The reason you are distressed, anxious, depressed, and generally feeling unwell stems from one place: YOUR MIND. Your mind is where your thoughts, your inner self talk, and the stories that you constantly, and consistently, tell yourself come are formed. And precisely these things that stem from your mind are QUITE LITERALLY what dictate, shape, and form how you feel about, and view, events, react, and interact with your surroundings, which in turn impacts your current and future reality. If your thoughts, the way you view things, and the way your mind functions is mainly predicated on negative self talk, then it will be impossible to find happiness and peace of mind. But what about my surroundings? They are the reason why I am sad and distressed. In stoicism your surroundings are considered EXTERNALS,  things that are not within your contro

QUOTE OF THE DAY: “To live a good life: We all have the potential for it. If we can learn to be indifferent to what makes no difference.”  –  Marcus Aurelius To live by this quote is to be unshakable by trivialities. I decided to start my first blog with this quote not only because of the enormous strength and impact it has if applied to one's life but also to clarify a vital concept about Stoicism that it is NOT a passive philosophy evoking indifference for the sake of not caring, for that is not what stoicism is about. A stoic by definition is a person who can endure pain or hardship without showing their feelings or complaining. A stoic doesn't always have to be indifferent. In fact, a stoic SHOULD NOT be indifferent to things that relate to the four pillars of stoicism: virtue, courage, temperance, and wisdom, as well as to anything affecting oneself internally.  Indifference is a temporary choice or attitude regarding a certain situation or circumstance. The saying is not