Stoicism

For some, this could be a game changer or not at all.  For me, this is a very interesting idea.

I actually wanted to talk about one aspect of Stoicism, and that is your control over your will.  (I actually don't agree with many Stoic ideas.)  I recently read an article.  In the essay, former US Navy Admiral James Stockdale wrote about his experiences and described war as a battle of will.  The war ends when one or both sides of the conflict has lost its will.  What an interesting way to view war!  He continues describing how some people are slaves, that we are all slaves to those things we fear.  We can fear losing a job, losing a loved one, we can fear being broke and we can fear death.  And our fear can consume us.  Someone close to me feared losing his job.  He felt so stressed that he had trouble sleeping and even lost his appetite.  It's sounds difficult to do, but he can choose how this event changes his emotions.  

In a talk by Dan Ariely, he mentions a punishment in Greek Mythology where King Sisyphus was forced to push a boulder up a mountain, and once he got to the top, he would watch it roll back down.  And in the book Holes, prisoners were forced to dig holes in order to fill them back up.  LOLL!  These punishments are awful!  And they are awful because they are designed to break a person's will.  US troops were accused of torturing natives in Afghanistan because they forced them to stand.  I believe it was a congressman who countered along the lines of, "Walmart cashiers are forced to stand for the same long periods of time."  The actions are the same, but the will behind the actions are different.  

Everyone has the choice to choose his/her will.  Will is the difference between hope and agony.  If you lose your job, or break up with your girlfriend, you can choose whether or not you become depressed.  If you miss your flight or have an imminent test, you can choose whether or not to be angry or stressed.  Now you cannot change the consequences of these events.  If you lose your job, you may need to save money or move to a smaller home.  You cannot arrive at your destination at the same time or change the score of your test after you've taken it.  But you can choose how you handle yourself and you can choose your will.  You don't need to let something like your job, a possession, a test, etc. control you.  You control you.

"Nobody can hurt me without my permission" - Ghandi