Our Time

Your ability to control your thoughts--treat it with respect. It's all that protects your mind from false perceptions--false to your nature, and that of all rational beings. It's what makes thoughtfulness possible, and affection for other people, and submission to the divine.

Meditations

Marcus Aurelius

It's December 31st and time to think about the past year and the one to come. What did you do and what can you do better? Did you waste time thinking about things that were out of your control and too little time focused on those things within your control? Did you work to control that one thing completely within your realm: your mind? 

It's an opportunity to survey how much time was wasted on trivial distractions versus meaningful progress towards the good. There is plenty of time in a given year to accomplish much if one spends one's time wisely, if one takes charge of one's time. One objective will be to use my time wisely and not let a day slip by without making progress on something. No more wasted days. For in those days, one upon another, is our lives. We bother over $20, but will let an entire day slip away without a trace.

My goal for 2018 is to use my time more wisely. To do things that may be difficult, but will leave behind something of value such as a stronger mind and body. Be well.

Create Your Own Christmas

There is only one way to happiness and that is to cease worrying about things which are beyond the power of our will.

Epictetus

That's about it isn't it, that's the core of this thing called Stoicism. Separate the events in your life into two distinct areas, those in your control and those out of your control. It sounds so simple, but how often do we get lost in that distinction. Here are the holidays, Christmas is almost upon us, and the big issue is our expectations of how things should be rather than how they are. We even distort the past to paint the present in a certain way. There were those wonderful Christmases we had so long ago that will never be again. Maybe so... I tend to think we color them in two ways, both of them wrong. Either they were these bright, happy days with family and friends and fat gooses (does anyone eat a goose nowadays?), or they were these sad days because the family was apart, the goose was gone, and, perhaps, we were alone. We tend to romanticize both versions: it was never really as good or as bad as we remember. (Note: I am just thinking about normal bad times here, not those times that end up being a Netflix series or drive new legislation.) 

Never mind all the issues around the commercialization of Christmas, the buy, buy as the path to happiness. What gets me is the selling of the emotional side, the way it has of making people feel worse on December 25th even if everything is perfectly fine. We expect the rosy cheeked kids opening presents in front of a glowing fireplace while the white, cardigan clad grandparents sit watching. I like the "Trailer Park Boys" image better: Wouldn't we all rather be home getting stoned and drunk with our families. It all comes down to expectations... We can't create that Norman Rockwell scene that has been so oversold and puts everyone into debt both financially and, more importantly, emotionally. But, we can take advantage of a few days off from work and the opportunity to get stoned and drunk with our families and friends.

The important thing is that, regardless of our circumstances, we do have our will to find happiness (contentment, might be the better word), by doing something other than feeling sorry for ourselves. Don't allow that fantasy to slip in of how things are supposed to be, they are the way they are which is a gift.  We can use our will to share what we have and spend time with others that might not be our families. There are people that would rather hide for the entire holiday because they have this fantasy of how it should be. Maybe you won't be with the rich grandparents showering you with gifts (would anyone care for a Lexus?), or be the rich grandparents doing the showering. But, remember, you have something to give. Find someone to share a moment with. If you are sitting alone thinking of other times or imagining something that never was, you need to explore that with every ounce of Stoicism at your disposal. If there is anytime of year that requires a philosophy, it's this week from Christmas to New Year.

Regardless, I am hoping things go on sale on Tuesday! I need some new boots. Be well.

Good Fortune

I was once a fortunate man but at some point fortune abandoned me.

But true good fortune is what you make for yourself. Good fortune: good character, good intentions, and good actions. 

Marcus Aurelius

Meditations

In time, when youth has long passed, you have a chance to look back at your life and realize those moments when choices were made. There were times when you had a chance to choose one path among many. There were those easy paths that allowed you to continue on without much effort, and then those difficult ones that were a challenge, that required change and uncertainty. If we add all of those choices together, we end up with the life we have today. The guide for those choices should be virtue rather than pleasure, the desire to do the good, the right thing, and often the more difficult one. There is no mystery between good and bad because we all know the difference. As it has been said, by who I can't remember, "When in doubt do the right thing because we all know what the right thing is." With the word fortune, I am not talking about possessions in all their forms, but, no doubt there is some of that. There is of course the unvirtuous man with great wealth but that is a different story. It goes without saying that good fortune comes in many forms, but in the end the key to the two words, "good fortune" is the word "good" because the fortune, if it is worthy, must be good. Fortune, is our present situation. Is it good, or are we stuck with an empty life filled with empty pleasures. Are we petty, angry, jealous, unloved, alone, without the fortune that can come only from love? Love of others, love of ourselves. We come to that fortune of a good life by a thousand choices so that in the end someone who made different choices will look upon that person with good fortune as lucky. 

What is the path you are on, and is it an easy one or one that requires some effort? Luck isn't easy, it turns out that it can be a lot of work. It requires attention.

There was a farmer that had a gorgeous farm. He was walking along a fence checking each post for rot when a man approached him. The man asked if this was the farmer's farm? The farmer replied that it was. 

The man stood there and saw the white, sturdy fence surrounding a pasture with cows. Up the road there was a large barn with various pieces of equipment around it and beyond that a white house surrounded by trees with a large porch. He took it all in and turned to the man and said, "The lord has surely blessed you with good fortune." 

The farmer replied, "Well, maybe so, but it sure was a mess when he blessed me with it."

And so is life. We are given everything we need, the raw material of good fortune, our farm, and it is up to us what we mold with it. Be well.

Is Change an Illusion?

This too is one of the evils of foolishness: it is always beginning to live.

Epicurus as quoted by Seneca

This brings up the question of whether or not it is possible to change by simply flipping a switch in one's mind and taking a different path. If I put together some grand plan and set a date for a change, is that a foolish path? It seems I am always thinking of some change, but often lack the discipline to follow through and take the steps needed. In the real world, yes, I go through the steps to reach a goal, but what of the world of the mind? How often do I go down a mental path but fail to stay on that path. 

What is wisdom? Always wanting the same thing, always rejecting the same thing. You do not even have to add the proviso that what you want should be right: only for the right can one have a consistent wish.

Seneca, Letters on Ethics #20

Thoreau warns of activities that require new clothes because too often they also require a different man. Do different ideas require a new suit? More to come... 

Today is the Time and Now is the Moment

Think of your many years of procrastination; how the gods have repeatedly granted you further periods of grace, of which you have taken no advantage. It is time now to realize the nature of the universe to which you belong, and of that controlling Power whose offspring you are; and to understand that your time has a limit set to it. Use it, then, to advance your enlightenment; or it will be gone, and never in your power again.” 

Meditations, Marcus Aurelius 

How much time have I wasted waiting for something to happen rather than doing that thing that was scratching at the back of my mind? What was the greater risk: to open the door to that thought and act upon it, or to wait and postpone opening the door to that thought? I think I know the answer. Yes, there is a need for prudence, but there is also a need for progress on that thing I wanted to do, but was either too afraid or too lazy to work towards. Anything worth doing requires a focused effort. These posts, for example, don't write themselves--although it may seem like they do. If I want to pursue something, advance my enlightenment by studying philosophy, it will require effort. There will come a day when everything will end for me, and if there is time to think before that happens, do I want that second, week, month to be filled with regret? I am on that path. Instead of working towards training my mind, I continue to waste my mind on the trivial. 

Step one: what is that "thing" worthy of my attention and energy? And what activity am I engaged in now that is preventing me from feeling that regret at my last moment? What would I pursue if I was told I had a year to live? I would be healthy, but would pass in 365 days? What would I do with my 365 days? And of course, it could be there is even less time because we don't know when the curtain will fall? It could be in mid-sentence, as I type these words, or it could be 30 years from now. What do I want to be doing with my time when I am called off the stage? Pursuing enlightenment... What is enlightenment? Understanding what in life has value and then living by that value. Be well. 

Staying Focused on the Project at Hand

What is my big project in life? Is it to buy a house? Get a good job? Produce art? Be happy? Have money set aside for retirement? Die with the most toys?

Each morning as I wake, I am confronted with my big project, but my efforts on most days are not directed toward advancing on it. My project is to work towards being a good person, a virtuous person. It's a big project but one that is mostly ignored. It should be at the center of my days. If I focus only on what is in front of me, and work towards doing the best that I possibly can, I am making progress. If I waste my time focusing on things out of my control, literally waste my life focusing on things that will not bring me closer to being that good person, I will continually be distracted. As a minor example, I reset my browser so that it doesn't offer up the days news to me. I found it to be the source of much distraction particularly given the recent big news about Jessica Simpson that kept appearing on my screen.

An innocent enough piece of clickbait, but the fact that it appeared on my screen all day, and I remembered it enough to mention it here, is a sad comment on what I allow into my brain. Part of being a good person surely has to be guarding what I allow into my head. If my day is filled with the absorption of trivia about trivia about trivia then what can the result be but a trivial mind?

The project at hand is to focus my mind on that which will add to my life not diminish it. Yes, it's fine to watch television dramas about life at Versailles when I am in control and know I am opening my mind to the trivial looking to be entertained. The insult to my time and life is when I hand over my mind without knowing. I will make sure the front door is locked 20 times a day, but how often do I make sure my mind is locked to those that wish to rob me of my own thoughts. And what do we have other than our thoughts? 

Guard your mind and stay focused on the task at hand. Be well. 

Freedom, Judgment, Will and Integrity

The first thing I should do in the morning is realize I am free to go through the day as I will. I have freedom because I only direct my energy towards those things immediately in my control. If I have to drive to work in the morning and I leave at 8:00 AM, I know the traffic will be heavy and it's going to take between 30 and 45 minutes to get to work. Why struggle with that fact and pretend there is anything I can do to move the traffic along. I can get in the left lane, the center lanes or the right lane, but I can't create a new lane with no cars in it. I have the freedom to take it for what it is and not allow it to alter my mind, my mood or any aspect of the day other than the few extra minutes my commute will take.

Traffic can be used as a metaphor for every seemingly unpleasant thing I have to deal with in my day. I have the freedom to decide how, or if, I will react to that "traffic." There are unpleasant people I will interact with and for some people I will be that unpleasant person. In fact, the majority of the "traffic" will be what happens in my own mind as I choose to allow anger, disappointment, or my sense of entitlement to muddle my perspective. I have the freedom to allow those feelings to drive my day or to cast them aside just as I don't allow the person that cuts in front of me to spin up an angry response. They didn't do that as an assault on my dignity, they are just driving their car. I am free to react how I choose. 

My judgment gives me freedom. I can decide how to judge the things that happen around me. And the primary judgment of most of the things that happen around me should be indifference. I can think the flow of activity around me has something to do with me, that the world is in some way against or even for me, or I can see it has little to do with me. I decide how to judge or, maybe more importantly, how not to judge. It is how we judge things that impacts how we react to the world. We are free when we judge the world as it is rather than how we wish it to be or twist it to make us the victim. When we judge wrongly we can lose our freedom, which is essentially control of our minds and actions.

I have control of my will, how I want to direct my energy. How I direct my will is at the center of the four concepts: Freedom, Judgment, Will and Integrity. My will is what I apply to direct my freedom, judgment, and maintain my integrity. The one thing I must realize as fully my own is my will. And of course that will can be applied to the defeat of injustice. If I want to maintain my integrity, I can't ignore injustice, dishonesty, theft, etc. I have an obligation to myself to not be a part of anything that would compromise my core beliefs as a human being trying to get through life without diminishing another person that is also trying to live a good life.

I am free so long as I make the choice to see the world as it truly is. Circumstances will arise that will hinder me, that will require a change of course, but even these things are but a test of my will. There is a daily effort to see things as they truly are and to exist within reality. The world is a crazy place full of confused beings misapplying their will, distorting their judgement, abandoning their integrity all with the goal of being free. But it is impossible to be free when we do not have control of those basics. 

My goal in life is be in control of that which is mine, that which I can truly control--my mind while I still have it. Be well.

Interacting with Our Tormentors

It's so easy to allow our emotions to get the better of us. We tend to put ourselves at the center of all of the activity around us whether we are involved or not. We respond to traffic as if it was a personal affront (at least I do); we participate in some vast process that started before we entered and will continue after we are gone, but still we somehow take responsibility for anything that goes wrong; we encounter people we don't know, and will likely never meet again, but we give them huge pieces of our time and energy. Stop it! Again, this isn't about you. We need to learn to see the reality of situations. As Marcus Aurelius said:

Begin the morning by saying to thyself, I shall meet with the busy-body, the ungrateful, arrogant, deceitful, envious, unsocial. All these things happen to them by reason of their ignorance of what is good and evil. But I who have seen the nature of the good that it is beautiful, and of the bad that it is ugly, and the nature of him who does wrong, that it is akin to me, not only of the same blood or seed, but that it participates in the same intelligence and the same portion of the divinity, I can neither be injured by any of them, for no one can fix on me what is ugly, nor can I be angry with my kinsman, nor hate him, For we are made for co-operation, like feet, like hands, like eyelids, like the rows of the upper and lower teeth. To act against one another then is contrary to nature; and it is acting against one another to be vexed and to turn away.

Marcus Aurelius

Meditations

Indeed. We need to accept that the world is full of perceived obstacles, but they only become so as far as we allow them. To achieve the freedom I want via the study of Stoicism, I have to see the truth of the fact that it's not about me, I am not in the thoughts of others, but am only a victim of their actions as long as I allow myself to be so.

It's Me

"It's not you, it's me."

The profoundness of this simple statement stuns me because generally speaking it is me. It's my perception of a situation that is the problem rather than the situation itself.

The other day I interjected myself into a meeting because I knew one of the attendees. I went in during the introductions and said hello and asked how it was going. They didn't pay much of any attention to me, and initially I allowed my ego to jump in. I walked away thinking, what a jerk, he hardly said hello and barely looked at me. I walked down the hall mumbling to myself and feeling badly in an overly dramatic way. But then I stopped and realized everything was in my head. It was me, not him. What response did I expect arriving at the start of a meeting to say hello to someone that wasn't expecting me? We apply our interpretation to every interaction and I suspect we are generally wrong. It's not about us.

I recently started working for a new organization where I am likely the least important person on the team. I am the person everyone is thinking the least about. Nobody is thinking about what they can do to advance my career or position me for a powerful position on the team. I am there to deliver a small piece of work and nothing more. The business isn't there to ensure I have a good time and pay my bills. In the end, whatever happens there is on me and anything that happens will be based upon what I deliver.

Stoicism says that we need to strive to understand what is under our control and what is out of our control and then to apply our energy to the former. If we apply our energy to what we can't control, we are wasting our lives. If we walk around expecting something from the world, we will be disappointed more times than not. If we work on those things actually within our power, and apply our will, we can achieve much. Be well.

Ramblings - August 2016

In sorting through various writings of mine, I came across the following. In reading them, I can see I was pretending to be philosophical with the hope I might become so. As with many things in life, our desire often precedes our ability and this may be the secret to achieving much. When our desire and our will are joined in the pursuit of something worthy, much can be attained. (It is the judgement of the worthiness of our goals that requires philosophy.) As someone once said: Fake it 'til you make it. Or perhaps even better: We often become that which we pretend to be. For now, I am pretending to be philosophical.

Ramblings:

A man should measure his wealth not by how much he owns, but by how little he owes. Too often our possessions include a tax that takes more time than we have.

A man should not measure his worth by that which can be bought and sold but by that thing that will die with him: his will. Our wills are all that separate us from others. Why did X not achieve Y? Because X lacked the will to take the necessary steps. (Note: And then, once that will is harnessed in the conquering of a thousand bad habits there is the task of guiding it towards something worthy. Once we subdue all that holds us back, there is that perhaps larger issue of the pointing of our will towards a worthy target.) 

All that we are is that which we take into the bath. We are only that which exists within us: will, truth, honesty, hope, love, kindness, generosity, etc. We are not things or achievements, but only that which is a part of our internal makeup. Find that and you will find who you are.

We are all given the gift of will which drives how we perceive the world and how we will decide to direct our energy. Control your judgement of the world as you participate and direct your actions in such a way that they are moving towards the attainment of a worthwhile goal.

A practicing Stoic must hold two thoughts simultaneously until he is able to hold only one. We are like two people in one body. One part of us contains the ability to think, reason, and apply our will to the accomplishment of something worthy of our efforts. And our other part that must be pressed into service, controlled, made to cooperate, but is always resistant. The Stoic must come to control his will and reasoning power to guide this other half that seems to have control over his actions. We are divided into that part that wishes to do the right thing and that part that would rather neglect what is required to achieve a worthy goal. Our will battles daily with laziness and the unending pursuit of meaningless entertainments. How much news about Donald Trump do you really need? Find a man that has accomplished much, and you will find a man that has harnessed his will. There is the me that knows what must be done, and the me that does not wish to do what must be done. My strength is on the side of my laziness. The Stoic's job is to break this duality of character, defeat his laziness, and harness his will.

The Cost of Pleasure

When you imagine some pleasure, beware that it does not carry you away, like other imaginations. Wait a while, and give yourself pause. Next remember two things: how long you will enjoy the pleasure, and also how long you will afterwards repent and revile yourself. And set on the other side the joy and self-satisfaction you will feel if you refrain.

The Manual of Epictetus

Painting by Ragnar Kjartansson

For every pleasure, there is a price to pay. This is not to say that pleasure is bad, but that it doesn't exist in isolation. If you need proof, take a look at your liver and your bank account. 

I can't remember where I read this, but it crosses my mind often: What is future me going to think of current me? What is current me doing to help ensure future me has an easier time of it? This can be a close connection or a distant one. What will tomorrow me think of today me drinking 12 drinks and spending the rent money? What will tomorrow me think of today me not saving a dime while I had work and health? When we are young, we don't think of that older us that will own the production, or of production, of our youth. What am I doing today to take care of that future me that does not yet exist but will know me, will have pictures of me. Will I look back with regret or love? The most dramatic example of this is the old man in jail for a crime committed by his younger self, that younger self that no longer exists. The old man has perhaps even forgotten who he once was, but is holding the bill of the younger man when it should have been a check. While we definitely want to live today, we have to make sure we are thinking of that person we will be tomorrow and in twenty years. Have that conversation with future you that wishes young you had sacrificed a few pleasures , studied more, worked harder, and, yes, set aside a bit of loot for the coming storm. Be well.  

Relating to the World

If then I identify myself with my will, then and only then shall I be a friend and son and father in the true sense. For this will be my interest--to guard my character for good faith, honor, forbearance, self-control, and service to others, to maintain my relations with others. But if I separate myself from what is noble, then Epicurus' statement is confirmed, which declares that 'there is no such thing as the noble or at best it is but the creature of opinion.'

Discourses of Epictetus

Book II, Chapter XXII

If we put our interests in anything outside of our own will, it becomes difficult to be an honorable person. Epictetus, in reading the full chapter from which the above quote came, speaks of life and death circumstances that reveal a person's character. There is the son that strikes down the father to become king or the child imagining a parent's death so they can gain their fortune. In our daily lives we are, I suspect, faced with less significant choices that draw from the same desire to get something. We take credit for a piece of work we didn't do so we can gain an advantage with the boss. There is the relative that pushes their advantage in the dividing of an estate based upon a technicality rather than on doing the obviously right thing. Or it could be as simple as the person that takes the extra slice of pizza knowing they have already had their share. If we put our desire on filling our belly, seeking greater wealth or esteem from others, we will set our honor, dignity, integrity aside to gain that thing that holds our interest. If we see that our most valuable thing is our will and our judgement we will do the right thing and be capable of being a true friend, coworker, partner, and parent.

I love the quote, which I can't attribute right now: when in doubt, do what's right. When confronted with a choice between two courses of action related to our relations with others, we know the right thing to do. Start doing it and you will strengthen that muscle that knows right from wrong. This plays out in the most subtle things as well as the grand. Is there an opportunity to be generous? Take it. Is there an opportunity to be truthful? Take it. Is there an opportunity to be honorable? Take it. Be well.

Dignity

Dignity: the quality or state of being worthy, honored, or esteemed.

Merriam-Webster

In all our actions, we should have our dignity in mind. The definition above points outward as in dignity is something bestowed upon us by others, but from the Stoic perspective dignity is something we maintain regardless of the opinion of others; it is a part of us as a human being but it is something we must maintain. 

Today, in the Washington Post, there was a piece by Jonathan Capehart that quoted Arthur Brooks, president of the American Enterprise Institute. Brooks is quoted as saying “Donald Trump was talking to people in the parts of America that have been truly forgotten and left behind now for generations in a way that was inherent.” Brooks added, "It helped people understand that he understood that they should have a sense of dignity, too." The article stated that these people have lost their dignity based upon society abandoning them. Because they don’t have decent jobs, have been neglected by the world, and that they now lack dignity or are in no position to maintain it. But, isn’t it possible to have no dignity while also having a great job, while being well educated, and having the full attention of the world? Dignity is something that comes from within the person regardless of their lot in life. We present our dignity based upon who we are. Not to say a job doesn't help, but it's not what gives a person dignity. Every human being has dignity and it's for them to lose.

Stoicism teaches that dignity is something we claim for ourselves without requiring the opinion of others. The person living in one of those neglected areas can maintain their dignity by continuing to be honest, diligent, ethical, and virtuous. Dignity is something we maintain under all circumstances and is independent of our individual situation. A great example of that type of person is James Stockdale who was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War. He maintained his dignity, his honor under horrible circumstances. When we maintain our dignity, we may receive honor or esteem, but we maintain it without any expectations. The very act of being dignified is the act of being worthy, honored and esteemed by oneself. The Stoic stands outside of the opinion of others and maintains his virtuous course. In thinking of this, Donald Trump, holding the most powerful position in the world, lacks dignity. Those abandoned people can maintain their dignity and Donald Trump can discover it. As I heard many years ago: How can you be so poor that you can’t pick up the trash in your yard? You pick up the “trash” in your life based upon that internal, human dignity you maintain regardless of the opinion of others. Human dignity should not be dependent upon some good fortune out of our control. Human dignity is inherent within each of us, but it is something we are responsible for maintaining. The person with a great job that lies or cheats to gain his income completely lacks dignity. The unemployed man that rises early, cleans his room, shaves and puts on a clean shirt has dignity regardless of the status he has in society. The poorest man can be more dignified than the wealthiest. We are responsible for maintaining our dignity outside of our circumstances. The slave can have more dignity than the master. Be well.

Progress

Yesterday I went through my bookshelves and removed at least 300 books most of which I have never read. I bought a book. I put the book on my shelf. I read the book. I used what I have read to give the impression I know something. I incorporated the author's knowledge into the way I live my life.

Unfortunately, I have usually stopped at the buying and putting on my shelf. On some level, I had to pick out the book and develop an idea around what it would offer me or, sometimes, how it would complete a collection of books around a particular topic.

Epictetus asks an athlete to show his progress and the athlete shows Epictetus his weights rather than his shoulders. In the same way, I was presenting my books as evidence of my progress rather than showing my actions. Don't show me the row of philosophy books on your shelves, show me how you live your life. If I could roll back time, I would have a single shelf with a few books I have read a dozen times rather than a thousand books most of which I have never read. Show me your muscles not your weights. Show me your life, not your books.

Progress is often made visible by what we don't do as much as by what we do. Every day is an opportunity to guide your actions towards freedom. We can be free of the desire to be special and come to the realization that being good is enough. Be strong.

Forming Habits

Every habit and every faculty is confirmed and strengthened by the corresponding acts, the faculty of walking by walking, that of running by running. If you wish to have a faculty for reading, read; if for writing, write.

So generally, if you wish to acquire a habit for anything, do the thing; if you do not wish to acquire the habit, abstain from doing it, and acquire the habit of doing something else instead.

Discourses of Epictetus

Book 2, Chapter 18

Good habits are strengthened by repetition exactly as a runner improves by running. And so the same with the mind and its habits such as anger, envy, lust, or deceit. With every repetition, the wagon rut becomes deeper and the behavior, physical or mental, whether good or bad, becomes one of habit. If you want to alter a behavior or create a new one, it will require an active effort. All too often our bad habits, and good ones, were formed without any thought. For who started out wanting to strengthen behaviors such as anger, lying, watching reality television, or eating a dozen doughnuts in a day? These things slipped into our lives and for whatever reason became our lives. Most of us have a list of things we would like to start or stop doing but, for whatever reason, we have not dedicated our will to the altering of our behavior.

This is the challenge: Pick one thing to stop or start doing and focus your will on that one thing for 30 days to force it to become a habit or no longer a habit. Our will is all we have and if we can’t apply it to our own minds or bodies what are we? If we do not have the control of our will, and its dedication towards something positive, what are we? If there is one thing that stands out about our human nature it is that we have a will that we can apply, that we can direct, that we can use for good. Apply it!

The Application of Will

Every day offers up a multitude of opportunities to exercise our will both in the avoidance of what is bad and the movement towards that which is good. With the new year, I am thinking of health and how I might apply my will towards its improvement. On the physical side, we can exercise and diet. On the mental side, we can work towards using our time to improve our minds so that we can see the world as it is. No easy task.

Since I am on this path to learn and use Stoicism to improve my mental health, it only makes sense that I use it to improve my physical heath. Exercise seems the easier of the two because it seems more straightforward. I can take walks, run, use my exercise bike, lift weights, etc. It's kind of a do or don't do each day as in: rode exercise bike for 30 minutes. It's simply a matter of doing it or not doing it. 

Diet feels like the more complex because whether I am dieting or not, if I even want to call it a diet, I eat every day. In other words, we are all on a diet however we want to construct that diet. Then there are the temporary diets we all have pursued to achieve some weight goal. I am going to control the types of foods I eat for three months until I lose 15 pounds. We know how that works. If we are dedicated, we lose the 15 pounds and then, if we are like most of us, we gain them all back and then some. A couple of years ago I read the Gary Taubes book, Why We Get Fat, and just this week completed The Case Against Sugar. I thought both of them were excellent. I also got to see a Gary Taubes' lecture based upon his study of the research on sugar and the sugar industry. I highly recommend both of these books. What am I getting at? In considering both of these books, I have decided to undertake a unique diet that I am calling the Stoic Diet. In thinking about this, I should mention a third book, Michael Pollan's Food Rules. Pollan's book perhaps offers the best guidance, but I mention Taubes' work because he is the one that got me thinking about this more deeply. He built up my anger towards the food industry and the way we eat today.

Farmers Market in Ecuador

In taking another look at Pollan's book: eat food that you can identify in just a word: chicken, broccoli, eggs, carrots, apples, onions, etc. Avoid all processed foods. Avoid sugar, which if you are avoiding processed foods should be quite easy. If you have to read a label to figure out what something is, don't buy it. In fact, if there is a label or brand on a food item, avoid it. I fully realize there are issues with our meat, but I am not going to insist on organic because I can't afford it. Here is what I am thinking, don't eat anything Epictetus would not have recognized. He lived from  50 AD to 135 AD. Based upon that, I think it's a sure bet he likely didn't eat 99% of the items I will find in a modern grocery store. This will not be about weight loss, although I suspect that will be one of the results along with simply feeling better.

This is about health. We simply weren't meant to eat the way we do today. We weren't meant to drink sugar water. We weren't meant to eat boxes of industrial food made with ingredients we can't even pronounce. The identifying of the things I should not eat will be easy: if there is a brand on it, if it was made in a factory, if it has an expiration date a year in the future, don't eat it. It's not food.

So the application of will here is to eat the right thing based upon a simple rule: What did Epictetus Eat?

The Daily Stoic

My wife and I have started the year reading "The Daily Stoic" by Ryan Holiday. This work basically does what I have been trying to do over the past few months--taking quotes from various Stoic writers and offering up commentary to, hopefully, make the quote more approachable. We are on January 9th with a full year of entries to look forward to reading and, more importantly, incorporating into our lives. While it certainly is intimidating to have these "365 meditations on wisdom, perseverance, and the art of living" out there in book form, it can't but make us all that much more wise. If you have a chance, get this book.