Why Stoicism Isn’t Just Old-School Self-Help

What is Stoicism?

• Stoicism is an art of living, a philosophy based on the idea of living a happy and content life, regardless of the external events happening in our lives.

• Stoicism teaches us

  • How to live a happy and smoothly flowing life

  • How to stay emotionally resilient to retain that happy and smoothly flowing life even in the face of adversity.

Origins of stoicism

• The Stoic school was founded around 300 BCE by Zeno of Citium,

• The inspiration for stoicism was taken from Greek philosophers, particularly Socrates and the Cynics.

• Yes, Socrates, the same person who wrote,

  • “It is a shame for a man to grow old without knowing the beauty his body is capable of.“

But why does Stoicism matter?

• Stoicism teaches you ‘Emotional Resilience’, not suppressing emotions, not killing your inner child, but dealing with emotions in a defined way.

  “It never ceases to amaze me: we all love ourselves more than other people, but care more about their opinion than our own.'“

  -Marcus Aurelius

• It teaches you to live in the Present, focus on what you can control and accept what you cannot

  “Events can give us physical pain but Suffering only comes from resisting what is, from fighting with reality”

  - Dan Millman

• It teaches us to take responsibility, accept mortality, learn to live as a minimalist and to deal with Grief.

• When you arise in the morning, think of what a precious privilege it is to be alive - to breathe, to think, to enjoy, to love!

• It teaches you to speak, but only what’s better not left unspoken.

Stoicism in your daily lives can help you live a happy, content life where your happiness is not linked to your material possessions but to your inner world, what truly matters and is gonna stay with you.

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This is Pratyay Dhond at your service

Give me all the critiques you can think of! Don't hold anything back. After all,

“The dread of criticism is the death of genius.” —William Gilmore Simms’