Feeling anxious? Or overwhelmed? What about desperate or disillusioned? That\u2019s ok. It\u2019s probably a reflection of a sound mind, considering \u2026 well, everything. However, a smattering of writers and thinkers have come forward and said: \u201cIt might not be as bad as you think\u2026 if you just change how you think\u201d. They believe the Stoics have the answer to lockdown anxiety. Many others are also turning to their ancient wisdom \u2013 sales of works by one of the most famous Stoic thinkers, the Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius, have seen a huge uptick in recent months.
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Stoicism is a school of Hellenistic philosophy that was founded by Zeno of Citium, in Athens, in the early 3rd century BC. The Stoics believed that unhappiness was caused by trying to control events that we have little say over. The only thing we can control is our thinking. We can\u2019t stop the news cycle or change government regulations, but maybe we can change the way we process it.
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Stoicism seems tailor-made for our times. As Alain de Botton\u2019s School of Life puts it, Stoicism \u2018had one overwhelming and highly practical ambition: to teach people how to be calm and brave in the face of overwhelming anxiety and pain.\u2019
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Here are 12 lesson from Stoicism for modern times:
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One of the most memorable Stoic phrases is from Marcus Aurelius: \u2018The things you think about determine the quality of your mind. Your soul takes on the colour of your thoughts.\u2019 The mind is not just an empty container that is filled with information, it\u2019s the generator of character (what Aurelius calls the soul).
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\u2018Be like the rocky headland on which the waves constantly break. It stands firm, and round it the seething waters are laid to rest,\u2019 Marcus Aurelius wrote. Instead of saying, \u2018It\u2019s my bad luck that this has happened to me.\u2019 You should rather say: \u2018It\u2019s my good luck that, although this has happened to me, I can bear it without pain, neither crushed by the present nor fearful of the future.\u2019
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\u2018A key Stoic idea, made famous by the Roman Epictetus, is that we need to pay attention to what we can and cannot control. We don\u2019t control things, he said, but we do control how we think about things,\u2019 Stoic scholar, John Sellars, wrote. Whenever you feel anxious, you need to ask yourself, \u2018Am I concerned with something I can control or with something beyond my control?\u2019 We must learn to accept that our plans may be thwarted by things beyond our control, Stoics insist. We can then focus our energy on those things which are in our power to change, particularly on our own emotional state.
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\u2018With Marcus Aurelius, we get a strong sense that we are just parts of nature and have to accept its processes, over which we have no control,\u2019 Sellars wrote. \u2018He also reflected a fair bit on his mortality and how to cope with thoughts of his own death.\u2019
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During the last 14 years of Marcus Aurelius Antoninus\u2019 life, he faced one of the worst plagues in European history. The Antonine Plague, named after him, was probably caused by a strain of the smallpox virus. It\u2019s estimated to have killed up to 5 million people, possibly including Aurelius himself. Rome was particularly badly affected, carts leaving the city each day piled high with dead bodies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In the middle of this plague, Aurelius wrote The Meditations, which records the moral and psychological advice he gave himself at this time. He frequently applies Stoic philosophy to the challenges of coping with pain, illness, anxiety and loss. It\u2019s no stretch of the imagination to view The Meditations as a manual for developing precisely the mental resilience skills required to cope with a pandemic.
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Much, if not all, of our thinking is also up to us. As the Stoics say \u2013 it\u2019s not events that upset us but rather our opinions about them. More specifically, our judgment that something is really bad, awful or even catastrophic, causes our distress.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This is also the basic premise of modern cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), the leading evidence-based form of psychotherapy. The pioneers of CBT, Albert Ellis and Aaron T Beck, both describe Stoicism as the philosophical inspiration for their approach. It\u2019s not the virus that makes us afraid but rather our opinions about it. Nor is it the inconsiderate actions of others, those ignoring social distancing recommendations, that make us angry so much as our opinions about them.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Many people are struck, on reading The Meditations, by the fact that it opens with a chapter in which Aurelius lists the qualities he most admires in others, about 17 friends, members of his family and teachers. This is an example of one of the central practices of Stoicism.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stoics reflect on character strengths such as wisdom, patience and self-discipline, which potentially make them more resilient in the face of adversity. They try to refer to them during the challenges they face in daily life, such as a pandemic. They learn from how other people cope. Even historical figures or fictional characters can serve as role models.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
With all of this in mind, it\u2019s easier to understand another common slogan of Stoicism: \u2018Fear does us more harm than the things of which we\u2019re afraid.\u2019 This applies to unhealthy emotions in general, which the Stoics term \u2018passions\u2019 \u2013 from pathos, the source of our word \u2018pathological\u2019. Even if you have a 99% chance, or more, of surviving the pandemic, worry and anxiety may be ruining your life and driving you crazy. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
This belief also has a deeper meaning for Stoics. The virus can only harm your body \u2013 the worst it can do is kill you. However, fear penetrates into the moral core of our being. It can destroy your humanity if you let it. For the Stoics that\u2019s a fate worse than death.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
As the Stoic philosopher and playwright Seneca said: \u2018We are often more frightened than hurt; and we suffer more in the imagination than reality.\u2019<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Stoics welcomed hard times \u2013 they saw life as a training ground for moments such as the one we\u2019re in now, where character, resilience and courage are tested. Stoic philosopher Epictetus said: \u2018The greater the difficulty, the more glory in surmounting it. Skilful pilots gain their reputation from storms and tempests.\u2019 He saw crisis as a way of unmasking who you really are: \u2018Circumstances don\u2019t make the man, they only reveal him to himself.\u2019
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A Stoic would recommend you to be careful of what media and opinions you consume during the virus. Counselled Epictetus: \u2018Other people\u2019s views and troubles can be contagious. Don\u2019t sabotage yourself by unwittingly adopting negative, unproductive attitudes through your associations with others.\u2019
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No plague or injury can do more damage than you do to yourself through acts of bad character. Character is key for the Stoics. They believed that your health and your money can be taken away from you at any time \u2013 but no one can take your character from you. So you need to nurture it. It\u2019s particularly important at times of global emergency where we need to pull together. \u2018Wherever there is a human being, there is an opportunity for kindness,\u2019 said Seneca.
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This technique involves thinking about what you value most in life, then imagine losing that thing. It might range from losing a precious piece of jewellery right through to imagining someone you love dying.
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Negative visualisation was practised by Stoics for a couple of reasons. This prepares us for the inevitable loss in life, but also enables us to appreciate the people and things we love. Stoics believed that we\u2019re less likely to take someone for granted if we\u2019re aware that they may not be in our life forever.
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While Stoicism is about controlling your own feelings, it also extends to dealing with difficult people. The Stoics, who lived with a certain amount of danger, treachery and violence, knew of the darkness in man\u2019s heart. \u2018Say to yourself first thing in the morning: today I shall meet people who are meddling, ungrateful, aggressive, treacherous, malicious, unsociable. They are subject to these faults because of their ignorance to what is good and what is bad,\u2019 Aurelius wrote. But Stoicism teaches us that all human beings are our relatives \u2013 we\u2019re like \u2018two sets of teeth in the same jaw\u2019 \u2013 and when we meet hostility from others we should greet it with tolerance and affectionate care for them.
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A key feature of the Stoic schedule is morning or evening reflection on your day and your own emotions. They teach us to observe our own feelings with detachment, to think how we might have responded better to the day\u2019s challenges, so that we are better equipped for tomorrow. This regular self-monitoring helps us to step back from irrational feelings, from wasting our emotional energy on anger or frustration at things beyond our control, cancelled plans, faltering internet connections, the lack of your favourite drink in the shops.
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As Marcus Aurelius said, \u2018Let us prepare our minds as if we\u2019d come to the very end of life. Let us postpone nothing. Let us balance life\u2019s books each day\u2026 The one who puts the finishing touches on their life each day is never short of time.\u2019
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Feeling anxious? Or overwhelmed? What about desperate or disillusioned? That\u2019s ok. It\u2019s probably a reflection of a sound mind, considering \u2026 well, everything. However, a smattering of writers and thinkers have come forward and said: \u201cIt might not be as bad as you think\u2026 if…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":92,"featured_media":57442,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5,120,129],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\n