“Can you not see plants, birds, ants, spiders, bees all doing their own work, each helping in their own way to order the world? And then you do not want to do the work of a human being – you do not hurry to the demands of your own nature.” ~ Marcus Aurelius
The philosophy of Stoicism tries to answer the question of who you are using determinism. The basic doctrine is that following your “directing mind” will allow you to manifest your true nature. The directing mind is the ability of the mind to use logic and make decisions. It is the part that is free from the highs and lows and pleasure and pain.
Talking about philosophy is all well and good, but how do we apply it? Of course, emotions and environment prove to be hindrances quite often. Personally, I’ve used it this year to help deal with distraction or other deterrents to what I actually want to do. I’ve gotten better at separating action from feeling and the intellectual processes that are associated with feeling.
Let’s say that you’ve made it a goal of yours to get out of bed at a certain time and you’ve set an alarm for yourself. You might wake up and then hit the snooze button repeatedly. I see that as a reaction to the feeling of discomfort we experience when we try to change our habits. In Stoicism, the aim is to be able to separate from that feeling and allow yourself to accomplish what we truly want without a conversation about it in our minds.
Tying in with my last post on mindfulness – it helps to understand what you truly want and if we want it before we try to achieve it. I believe that you will work towards what you want when you know what it is.
