The ups and downs of the Stoic journey
Its been a minute hasn’t it, all of that of course is my own doing having let my habit of putting out relatively thoughtful pieces on Stoicism lapse. This is due to a combination of issues which have come to the surface in the past few months and which I am sure I will discuss at a later date, so stay tuned!
Getting to a point of sorts
So as part of my triumphant return to the world of literary contributions in the Substack community, I would like to discuss the upbeat topic of difficult times. As I have stated before Stoicism is a philosophy for both the good and the bad times in your life. One capable of making you appreciate the highs of life as much as it is a fantastic resource to navigate its choppier waters.
When working on a side project years ago I came up with the admittedly somewhat over the top line, “A man must first know despair before he can grasp hope from its depths.”
However after years of working on myself, allowing progress to slip, stumbling and making my own way in life I have come to appreciate the crux of Stoicism to a far greater degree. At the end of the day we can simply divide what is within our control from that which lies without. The true genius of this approach to life lies in the fact it works on the smaller scale as much as it does on the grander.
So much of the beauty of Stoicism comes from the simplicity of its practices and principles. Yet and there is always a yet as much as I truly wish there was not, every circumstance differs and we may times struggle to practice what we preach to the extent we may have liked.
It is not always that simple it seems!
The difficulties of Stoic practice
The modern world differs greatly from the one Marcus Aurelius inhabited. Therefore you might proffer the question, how can the principles he practiced ever be relevant to the lives we now lead. Although the worries of the everyday man or woman may not include the looming invasion of barbarians over the Rhine, we can still make use of these teachings.
When applied correctly and with the degree of patience required to form the habits necessary to live as Stoics, we too can take heart from all that those who came before endured. In the fast paced environment of modern life, we worry about jobs, status and the current affairs of the world. So too did the citizens of Rome and Greece, it has always been difficult and I don’t foresee a utopia coming to us at any stage in the near future.
This may seem like an overly pessimistic view but I would argue the opposite. Hard times have come and Stoics have endured them for millennia. Hard times are before us and we will face them armed with the tried and tested principles which underpin the philosophy we hold so dear. We will meet doubt and uncertainty with the locus of control, premeditatio maliorum, practiced discomfort and much much more.
It is meant to be hard to live life as a Stoic, it has always been hard to live life as a Stoic and it always will be hard to live life as a Stoic.
A silver lining (I know what you’re thinking, “At last”)
Stoicism may be a difficult philosophy to live up to, to practice and to embody, however we become stronger with the burden upon our shoulders. Like any such journey of self improvement we cannot truly move forward without a degree of discomfort. If we stop and stay static in our lives the person we are now becomes our future. To consciously work on ourselves, pushing our comfort zone to the side and aiming to achieve the ultimate goal of being the best versions of ourselves, is difficult.
It is also beyond rewarding and one thing I cannot recommend highly enough is to celebrate each and every victory no matter how minor. To acknowledge the instances we truly lived up to the Stoic virtues, for example I recently dealt with a rude individual whilst conducting my Christmas shopping. I could have allowed my frustration with the situation to show or responded in a negative manner. Instead I took a moment to ensure I was sufficiently composed and focused purely on what I could control, my thoughts and my actions.
Now it is not as if I reinvented the wheel by responding with patience towards other individuals dishearteningly frustrating behavior. Yet I was satisfied with the way in which I had conducted myself in that situation and allowed myself to feel a degree of pride at what is a small step in a lifelong journey.
This is vital as there will be days we do not embody our virtues to the extent that a Stoic should. Rightly so we call ourselves out for such instances, yet we are much slower to mentally pat ourselves on the back and acknowledge how far we have come in other such situations.
“It will [get worse]. But then it will get better. Then it will get worse again. Then better. This is life, and I will not lie by saying that every day will be sunshine, but there will be sunshine again, and that is a very different thing to say. That is truth. I promise you Kaladin, you will be warm again” – Brandon Sanderson
Therefore whilst we acknowledge the difficulty inherent within our Stoic journeys we should also be grateful to be putting our time and effort into a worthwhile endeavor. One which will ensure we are better than the person we were yesterday and increasingly capable of bringing about the positive change we would all like to see in our own lives and the world around us.
The journey of a thousand miles starts with a single step and yes this first step seems momentous but each step which follows bears the same weight and depth of significance, so long as we allow ourselves to enjoy it appropriately.
A concluding thought or two
I have not written much in the past few months so apologies for the rustiness and clunky approach I have taken to putting this piece together. However I feel the core themes should shine through to you. None more so than the fact we should all acknowledge that it is difficult to practice Stoicism. So no matter how many times we stumble or fail, we still deserve credit for attempting to follow in Marcus’ mighty footsteps and make ourselves better in the process.
“And so, does the destination matter? Or is it the path we take? I declare that no accomplishment has substance nearly as great as the road used to achieve it. We are not creatures of destinations. It is the journey that shapes us. Our callused feet, our backs strong from carrying the weight of our travels, our eyes open with the fresh delight of experiences lived.” – Brandon Sanderson
We will by our very nature have good days and bad days, days where it seems easier to practice these principles and days where they are far from our minds. Life is very much a tempest and it is important we do not lose sight of this fact upon our journey. If it was easy to practice Stoicism Marcus and Epictetus would not be held up as paragons of virtue to the extent they are. rather mere adherents to a long practiced school of philosophy.
They are not and never were truly perfect either, the Meditations stands testament to such. The reason why he wrote down such mantras was to help him with this practice, as he bore the burden of the purple throughout a tumultuous reign. Marcus was a person just like us with his own worries, doubts and anxieties. He was often beset by thoughts like our very own that he was failing to effectively practice Stoicism, much like many of us now.
Yet he did not allow these feelings to control him, rather he consistently put his shoulder to the wheel and worked to perfect his practice. Once we take these individuals down from the pedestal that such hero worship places them upon, we can take heart from their struggles to an even greater degree. They are not perfect Stoic sages, they dealt with the same doubts and uncertainties which plague us now but did not succumb to them.
So as the year comes to an end and we look back on the highs and the lows of another year of ups and downs, it is important that we bring this perspective with us into 2025. We are not perfect, nor were any of our role models. The journey ahead is one of consistent practice which brings with it its own difficulties, yet each of the individuals we look up to struggled with much the same.
If they could bare the difficulties of their age with a Stoic mindset underpinned by continued practice of the principles I have mentioned above, why can’t you?
P.S. Apologies for the litany of Sanderson quotes, Wind and Truth has me far too excited to continue the Stormlight Archive!
