#2 What can you learn from Stoicism?
5 key takeaways from eight years of study, and practicing...
The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the colour of your thoughts… — Marcus Aurelius
It’s a Sunday morning. So I’ll keep this short comrades, for all of our sakes. After all of these years focusing on key principles, Greek and Latin terminology, 100s of books, and lectures what have I picked up from this sub section of Philosophy we call Stoicism? I wanted to note that with the right time, and energy there are certainly benefits of studying, and reading Stoic writings over a period of time.
Ultimately it’s up to you how you go about this. Reading books, and attending live conferences have been the best option for me. And who knows perhaps you already have a philosophy for living. Zeno of Citium, the founder of Stoicism tells us that ‘the steps to well-being are achieved little by little, and nevertheless are no little thing itself.’
Below are the 5 keys things I’ve learned about, and semi achieved from many years of practice. I reckon with enough effort, and practice most of you can find these too:
Tranquility: By focusing on what we can control and accepting what we cannot control, we can let go of negative emotions and distractions, and find greater inner peace.
Improved relationships: By living in accordance with reason and virtue, we can improve our relationships with others by behaving in a way that is fair, honest, and compassionate.
Increased resilience: By accepting that some things are out of our control, we can develop greater resilience in the face of challenges and setbacks.
Greater personal fulfilment: By living in accordance with our values and striving to be virtuous, we can lead more meaningful and fulfilling lives.
Improved mental health: By focusing on what is important and letting go of negative emotions, we can improve our mental health and well-being.
If you are looking to know more about what the Ancient Stoics believed in, and thought Stoicism should look like as a Philosophy for living, I’ve made my latest medium article available free to read for this email list. Check it out from this link:
https://medium.com/perennial/getting-to-the-core-of-stoic-philosophy-e81c8e8d0751?sk=a57c25141d92e485fc81087d18984e3a
P.S just to let you know we hit well over 100 subscribers, so thank you! We’ll keep going forward this year. The book giveaway I spoke about will happen on Tuesday’s newsletter.
I hope you have a great Sunday, and aim to go into this week with reason, and logic at the forefront of your mind. Ad astra, comrades!
So clear, so helpful, and so well-written - once again, Enda!
I appreciate your summary; I find myself going more and more in the Stoic direction, i.e. voluntary asceticism when I can stand it. In pursuit of virtue and self control.