3 Stoic Principles that changed my way of thinking
+ The best books on Stoicism
I’ve never been a religious or a spiritual guy. In that sense I’m pretty level-headed. But, I’ve always resonated with Stoicism. For those who don’t know what Stoicism is, let me quickly explain my interpretation of this philosophy:
Stoicism is an ancient Greek Philosophy which aims to make us more resilient, happier, moral, wise and in turn overall better people.
Over the years I’ve learned more and more about this philosophy. Three practical principles have shaken me to my core; so much so that I remind myself of these principles on a daily basis. You can say that I live and die by these.
Amor Fati
A.k.a. a love for your fate.
This is a Stoic exercise that you can adopt in order to make the best of any situation: treating each and every moment, no matter how difficult, as something to be embraced rather than avoided.
Remember that shit just happens. Things will not always go your way. Don’t just accept the struggle.
Love It.
Failures and speed bumps on the road are necessary on the path to succes.
“To be like the rock that the waves keep crashing over. It stands unmoved and the raging of the sea falls still around it.” — Marcus Aurelius
Know what you can control
The Stoics hammer down on the fact that we don’t have everything in our control, actually more often than not we think we do.
At other times we’re paralyzed by the fact that we think that we can’t control a situation, but we have the cards in our hands to turn the game around.
If you concentrate on determining which facets of your day are under your control and which are not, you will not only be a looot happier, but you will also have an edge over those waging an unwinnable war.
The Alcohol Anonymous Serenity Prayer perfectly ties into this concept:
“God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Memento Mori
A.k.a. meditating on your mortality.
This is stoic practice is actually a simple reminder that you and I will die. A lot of people live as if they have no expiring date. That there is no imaginary hourglass right in front of you, dropping a teeny-weeny bit of sand every living minute.
This is freeing yet a bit scary too.
I personally act more courageous and more freely when reminded that this little life of ours isn’t infinite. Knowing that in the grand scheme of things it really doesn’t matter that much will make you live your life to the fullest.
“We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one” -Conficius
Books on Stoicism
It wouldn’t be a Distillery classic if I didn’t recommend a few books on Stoicism for you to dive more into this topic yourself. Here are a few of my personal favorites:
Meditations — Marcus Aurelius
Daily Stoic — Ryan Holiday
How to think like a Roman Emperor — Donald Robertson
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