Understanding Stoicism — I
Day 37 / 365
I wrote a blog a few days ago which was the introduction for stoicism for me.
Since then I have been reading more on Stoic philosophy and I’ve found that it’s a really vast subject, and a single blog post wouldn’t do it justice. So for the next few days, the blogs would focus on Stoicism. I’m thinking of reading up on one or two quotes per day, but let's see how it goes.
“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
This is a quote by Marcus Aurelius, the emperor of the Roman Empire from 161 to 180 AD and one of the most important Stoic philosophers.
The quote explains one of the central themes of stoicism, not letting external factors affect your feelings and state of mind. At first glance, it seems quite obvious. Why get frustrated over something that we can’t control? Yet we often make that mistake.
This is where mindfulness comes in. Practicing Mindfulness is an important part of stoicism. You need to recognize that the cause of your distress is out of your control. This mere act of mindfulness gives you power over the negative emotions.
You cannot control the circumstances, but you can control how you react to it.
Your worries, your fears, all your negative feelings are internal. And so are fully capable of dealing with them as well. Another quote by Marcus puts this aptly-
“Today I escaped anxiety. Or no, I discarded it, because it was within me, in my own perceptions — not outside.”
This story is part of my 365 Day Project for 2019. Read about it here
Yesterday’s blog — Practicing Mindfulness