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.