Struggling with Circumstances 5

"If these things are true, and if we are not silly, and are not acting hypocritically when we say that the good of man is in the will, and the evil too, and that everything else does not concern us, why are we still disturbed, why are we still afraid?

"The things about which we have been busied are in no man's power: and the things which are in the power of others, we care not for. What kind of trouble have we still?" . . .

Epictetus, Discourses 1.25 (tr Long)

Stoic moral principles are hardly complex, though they may sometimes seem very difficult to live. I have discerned two obstacles to my own practice of Stoicism. Sometimes I don't seem to know that they are true, and sometimes I don't seem to even want them to be true. The first comes from a weakness of habit in the mind, the second a weakness of habit in the will.

The Stoics always remind us that we should not hate an evil man, since he is evil through his ignorance of the good. This calls for my compassion and assistance, not my anger. We walk through our lives, engaged in many complex and difficult tasks, but we often simply do not know why we are doing them. How many of us have dedicated the time and effort needed to answering the question of who we are? What is our human nature? How is it fulfilled? If we do not know this, we ultimately cannot act well.

My knowledge and action may also be hindered by a weakness in my commitment. I may, in part and only vaguely, understand the theory of Stoic ethics, but I am still dragged down by the old habits I have become so comfortable with. The love of money, of fame, of power, of pleasure still weighs on me. It is what most everyone around me loves, and it what I have been told, time and time again, that I must strive for. It is no wonder that my choices are weakened by such a burden. I still choose poorly because I might be afraid of what is unfamiliar, unpopular, or deeply challenging to everything I have known before.

The troubles will only pass when we transform our awareness of Nature from theory into practice, from the hypothetical to the actual, from a hazy comprehension to the fullness of living. We need not be afraid of the true good, because once we embrace it, we have freed ourselves from all the grief and pain of depending upon what is outside of our power. This way lies happiness.

Written in 7/2005

Image: Dorothea Lange, Migrant Mother (1936)