Stoicism and Crisis
- Bud
- Apr 3, 2020
- 2 min read
It is perhaps useful in times like this to reflect upon the philosophical tenets of Stoicism.
From the writings and teachings of people like Seneca and Marcus Aurelius we can derive and apply attitudes, perspectives and practices that not only help us feel better about our current situation but also help us to better help those around us in their own struggle.
What is Stoicism?
In a nutshell: “Stoicism teaches how to keep a calm and rational mind no matter what happens to you and it helps you understand and focus on what you can control and not worry about and accept what you can't control.” (Jonas Salzburger)
The most accessible and easily applied notions of Stoicism for us in this time are:
- Daily reflection on personal virtue: what did I do today that was good, helpful, healthy and rational, and what did I do today that was not? This can help us do better tomorrow, and also help us sleep better, knowing that we have taken stock of the day. We cannot change the past, and we don't need to beat ourselves up for our failures today, but we can learn from them. We can also give ourselves a pat on the back for the good things, and thereby reinforce those behaviours for the future.
-Distancing: understand that you are not alone. Every bad (and good) thing that happens to us has happened before, and will happen again, to us and to others.
-Temporality : One of my favorite sayings - "these things too, shall pass away".
- Negative Imagining : it sounds counter-intuitive, but it is useful to sometimes consider how much worse things could be. If we devote some thought to the 'worst case scenario', at the least we might be better mentally prepared to deal with it IF IT HAPPENS , and when it DOESN'T HAPPEN (which is most often the case) we are comforted that things turned out so much better than they might have.
- Let go of worry: easier said than done I know. My mother used to say "Worry never robs tomorrow of it's sorrow, it only saps today of it's strength". Put another way "We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more in imagination than in reality.” (Seneca)
We can sometimes take things of great value from adversity. For myself, these past weeks have given me a fresh appreciation for the wonderful people and gifts in my own life.
Some Great Links
Comments