“Attitude is the difference between an ordeal and an adventure” – sounds self-fulfilling, doesn’t it?
The faculty we possess for forming opinion ought to be our most cherished feature as human beings; it allows us to persevere and endure painful exercises of the mind and body, knowing that it is in the pursuit of some higher good. The fact that we each have the entitlement to our own opinion is what causes us to engage in a society, a community of humankind under a polity of equal laws. Now, this article won’t discuss (in)equalities under the law (maybe next month) – it will discuss, however, the fundaments of living a Stoic life, as a benefit to the budding Stoic philosopher in all of us.
What this first entails is an understanding of one’s life as a finite and temporal existence – which is popularly (mis)understood as “You Only Live Once.” The Stoic understands this in the noblest sense of the phrase. It is a hard truth, knowing that tomorrow is not promised, but a necessary one that we ought not to be afraid of, and to bear with modesty of ourselves and temperance of the ignorant. Modesty comes from an orderly mind, one that knows that vainglorious attempts to impress others hinge one’s happiness on what they cannot control. Stoicism extols that happiness should come from what cannot be taken away against your will. In other words, since it is possible that you may depart from this life at any moment, regulate every act and thought accordingly. It takes discipline to understand this sentiment. It is easy to say, “Screw it, YOLO,” but much more difficult to say, “YOLO; I’m going to try my best to be a good person while I still have precious time.”
The most important feature and benefit of Stoicism is the way it helps students navigate through bad or evil experiences: the taming of our passions and the molding of our character. Anger, desire, and pursuits of fame are all products of ignorance, says the Stoic, for good and bad experiences happen indiscriminately to everyone. This is an operation of nature: a thing in itself is not bad, but our opinion of it makes it so. Putting aside all obvious atrocities and value judgments thereof, think about this precept in tandem with the necessity of benevolence and respect for the gift of life and one’s opinion. Consider this: when someone wrongs you, or you feel wronged by life, think of the reality of how little you can control in your life. Realize that what is within your control is your character. At a very hard and disciplined level, you are responsible for your thoughts and actions, but you cannot control what acts may befall you, and therefore you ought not to be mad at nature for such, because you can control how you react to things, and that is the essence of the noble Stoic. Remember, on every occasion that leads you to vexation, apply the principles of Stoicism: not that life is ever a misfortune, but that to bear it nobly is always good fortune.
The essence of Stoicism is perhaps best represented in a quote from Marcus Aurelius:
“That which rules within, when it is according to nature, is so affected with respect to the events which happen, that it always easily adapts itself to that which is and is presented to it. For it requires no definite material, but it moves towards its purpose, under certain conditions however; and it makes a material for itself out of that which opposes it, as fire lays hold of what falls into it, by which a small light would have been extinguished: but when the fire is strong, it soon appropriates to itself the matter which is heaped on it, and consumes it, and rises higher by means of this very material.”