How to get rid of suffering by means of Stoic philosophy
A Life / / December 19, 2019
Learn to distinguish between what you can control, and that - no. Then you will avoid suffering, changing what is in your power, and releasing the rest.
Develop an internal locus of control
Of course, in practice it is not so simple. You can understand that disruptions or traffic congestion on the road out of your control, but still will be angry and annoyed.
As Epictetus would react in such a situation, one of the most famous Stoic philosophers? He believed that any negative event is not bad because of what happened, but because of how we react to it.
We must always be ready to injustice, hardship, stress and pain.
Watching such a way on the world, you take full responsibility for your life and begin to see the reason for dissatisfaction is not external events, and in their response to them. Psychologists call this an internal locus of control. This is a tendency to consider that it is not external, but internal factors determine how life develops.
Diversify sources of joy
Try to think like an investor or an entrepreneur: do not put all the resources into one thing. Allocate your time and energy on a few sources of joy. It is important to balance the sense that you are in the works, other things: hobbies and personal projects.
Associate their identity with only one niche is too risky, because can always happen that you lose that niche, and with it, and its identity. There's always something will happen, something will go wrong, it is inevitable.
If you have many sources of happiness and meaning, you do not have to despair vpadote when unforeseen events disrupt the course of your life.
Suffering does not come from external sources, but from within. Therefore, the most important thing learn to differently perceive obstacles and difficulties. In the words of Epictetus: "People are not plagued by things, and ideas about them."