Random Thoughts

“The things you think about determine the quality of your mind.”

― Marcus Aurelius, Meditations

Happiness is a simple word which theoretically should be sketchily reachable. Well, we all know it is not that simple. There are plenty of things that can be obstacles for us to reach what so-called happiness. When it comes to this simple yet difficult to get feeling, it is closely related to our focus on what we can or cannot control. Admit it. So far, do you often focus more on things that can be controlled or on those you can't control? It's a pity to recognize that most people in this world focus more often on things beyond their reach as opposed to focusing on things they can control. The key to being a person who has a happy life, to be a tough figure, and also wise, is just simply to focus on the things that exist within our control, not the other way around. This mindset should be firstly embedded in our way of seeing things to begin the journey of reaching happiness, only by then, we can march forward.

In the journey of finding the meaning of life, human has been inventing things that can serve as means of guidance to aid humanity in becoming better beings. One of them is what we know as philosophy. This is a way of thinking where its purpose is to question our very existence, reason, knowledge, mind, values, and language. In a broader term, it is to understand how things in the broadest possible sense of the term hang together in the broadest possible sense of the term. Confused? It’s okay. We need to be confused to understand 😁. Aside from the mind-twister definition and stuff, there is a philosophy that is believed to be able to guide those who seek a happy life. I believe the name is Stoicism. I bet you’re thinking “what in the love of God is that word?!”, or maybe I’m just being dramatic since you arrived here because you searched for stoicism 😂. Well, that simple strange word is a Greek word, and we’ll get to that later. Stoicism is a philosophy related to the happiness of life and how to avoid stressful and saturated thoughts. This philosophy teaches us how happiness comes from things that can be controlled. Therefore, to achieve the happiness we long for, all we need to do is focus on whatever we can control. Let’s talk more about this way of thinking, shall we?

“Nothing is burdensome if taken lightly, and nothing need arouse one's irritation so long as one doesn't make it bigger than it is by getting irritated.”

― Lucius Annaeus Seneca, Letters from a Stoic

The Philosophy of Stoicism: What is it?

Stoic or stoicism comes from the Greek Stoikos which means "from the stoic (foyer or veranda)”. It refers to the Stoa Poikile, or "Painted Veranda" in Athens. Where the stoic philosopher Zeno of Citium who exerted a great influence on stoicism once taught. This stoicism was created in the city of Athens, Greece by Zeno of Citium in the early 3rd century BC. This philosophy was embraced by several philosophers from Greece, ranging from Epictetus; a former slave, Seneca; a politician in the era of Emperor Nero, and even Marcus Aurelius; an emperor of Rome. The teachings of stoicism are very diverse, but it can be concluded that the basis is regarding the development of logic which is divided into two, namely rhetoric and dialectics. In addition, this philosophy also discusses the development of physics and ethics which contains theology and politics.

The striking view of ethics this philosophy brings is about how human beings choose life attitudes by emphasizing apatheia, that is, living resignedly by accepting all the circumstances that happen to exist in the world. This attitude is a reflection of human reasoning abilities which is the highest abilities in all aspects of life. In the philosophy of stoicism, everything that happens in human life is neutral. No one plays a positive or negative role, there is no bad or good thing. The thing that can make these things positive or negative, good or bad is our interpretation of them. Stoic philosophers considered happiness as something which is not to be pursued. They are more focused on ways of reducing negative emotions, ranging from anger, sadness, stress, and also upset. By improving this reasoning, we will be better able to control our behaviour in the face of these emotions. Our fear of facing situations that are beyond our expectations is greater than the consequences that will arise from the event. According to the concept of stoicism, the easiest path to happiness is based on these three principles; the first is the ability to see oneself, the world, as well as other human beings objectively and accept their nature as it is. See them for what it is. The second principle is discipline to prevent oneself is controlled by the desire to be happy or the fear of pain and also suffering. The last one is to make a distinction between what is in our strength and what is not.

In addition, this concept also teaches us that what is within our control is limited only to our thoughts, perceptions, beliefs and actions. Stoicism expresses that policy or wisdom is happiness and judgment that must be based on behaviour, not words. We simply can't control whatever happens if it comes from outside of ourselves or is external. We can only control ourselves and the way we respond to the things that happen around us. The Stoics express that the feelings of fear or jealousy (be it sexual lust or passionate love towards anything) arise from the improper judgment of people in general. But for wise people which in this term is someone who has achieved perfection in moral and intellectual terms, they will not experience this. The Stoics of the time of Seneca as well as Epictetus emphasized a doctrine that had been the teachings of the early Stoics, that a wise man would be completely immune to any problem, be it misfortune or suffering. That is to say, the attitude of virtue is enough to achieve happiness. However, it is not merely projecting that only wise men are free from suffering whereas others are morally evil. This philosophy does not care about the chaotic theory of the world. Its purpose is merely to help us in overcoming destructive emotions and act correctly.

“For making a good voyage a pilot and wind are necessary: and for happiness, reason and art.” ― Epictetus, Fragments

Stoicism’s concept of life

In the philosophy of stoicism, we are asked to take responsibility for our way of looking at things. The concept considers that one of the causes of the suffering we experience is ourselves. We are the ones who can determine the suffering or happiness we want to feel. In addition, within the concept of stoicism, we are also required to draw a distinguishing line between the things we can control and the things we can't control. Many people end up unhappy because they are trying to control things they can't control. This will certainly make them feel helpless, upset, and feel useless. Henceforth, the philosophy of stoicism focuses on the things within our control and realizes that there are indeed some things that are beyond our control. When we shift our focus on things we can control, then eventually we will feel useful, effective, and able to solve a problem easily. Being happy is easy, fun, and certainly learnable. Certainly not with theories or sitting around in a seminar and stuff, but with PRACTICE. Practice makes perfect.

These are some points to guide us in living a life under the guidance of stoicism. The first step is to take control of how we think. As we have discussed earlier, the core principle of stoicism philosophy is about dealing with things within our control and that are beyond our control. There is a lot of unhappiness happening caused by the thinking in which we assume that we can control things that can't be controlled. That leaves us wondering, what can we control? Epictetus reveals that we can control what happens to ourselves. When others do bad things to us, it is a thing that we cannot control. However, we can control emotions from within ourselves in the face of such treatment. That is to say, what we can control is ourselves, not others. It awakens us to the basic principle of Epictetus, which is not the things that happen to us that make us angry, but it is about the way we think about the things that happen to us. If we happen to think that there will be something bad happening to us, then we will most likely be stricken with fear, anxiety, and sadness.

Similarly, when we judge that something very bad has happened to us, then we will feel upset, angry, and sad. The concept of stoicism teaches us that all the sense of emotion we feel is the result of our assessment of something. The thing that is inside oneself is neutral. Therefore, what may seem terrible to us might seem trivial to others. And vice versa. The paradox of Stoicism, as formulated by Epictetus, reveals that we have almost no control over anything. But at the same time, we have full control over our happiness.

The second point we can do is to train the mind. One of the figures of stoicism, Seneca, recommends that we write down the things we feel when we are upset with something trivial or act with a sense of emotion towards someone, we may not deserve to be angry with. By writing all that down, we will have hope and potentially think about neglecting it in the future. In addition, another philosopher, Marcus Aurelius, had another strategy. Where he constantly reminds himself that he may meet people who are angry, sad, stressed, and impatient. With that in mind, he hopes that later he will tend not to respond to them in the same way they present themselves. He reflects on the fact that no one in the world has done any of the mentioned bad things on purpose. They may just be victims of their own erroneous judgments. At this point, we can conclude that no one chooses to be unhappy, angry, stressed, or sad. It is all merely the result of an assessment of our own, that is, one of the things that are within our control.

The last point is to accept whatever happens. Another thing about the concept of stoicism is to make us realize that the world is not just revolving around us. As Epictetus said, if we expect that the universe will give us the things we want, then what we get will probably just be a disappointment. But if we accept whatever the universe gives us, then our lives will be much more peaceful and happier.

Well, those are some explanations about the philosophy of stoicism just to introduce us to it. For further discussion about this wonderful philosophy, many more writings will be posted sometime later since this is very vast knowledge and we surely have a lot to discuss. I’ll meet you in the next writing. Ciao. WES.