Epictetus, The Handbook 11: Carrying the Right Tools

When anything happens to you, always remember to turn to yourself and ask what faculty you have to deal with it.

If you see a beautiful boy or a beautiful woman, you will find continence the faculty to exercise there; if trouble is laid on you, you will find endurance; if ribaldry, you will find patience. And if you train yourself in this habit your impressions will not carry you away.

—Epictetus, The Handbook, Chapter 10 (tr Matheson)

I have attempted to fix plumbing, an old turntable, my car, and my online bank account without knowing what I was doing, and without knowing what tools I needed to make it right. The worst was an effort at fixing a buzz in the pickup of a Rickenbacker bass guitar. Oh, and my taxes, I forgot about the taxes.

I have also done the same with my own heart and mind. I may recognize that things aren’t right in my soul, but I have no idea where to begin. It’s much like having disassembled some sort of doohickey or thingamabob, and having no clue what I need to put it all back together.

Those far handier in mechanics than I know full well that one need not panic. All that is needed is to know what’s gone wrong, and what tools are needed to fix it.

Now many of us will buy all sorts of expensive tools to help us in our lives. Most of these end up in the garage or in the basement, along with all the exercise equipment, because we didn’t really need them.

All the tools we really need to improve our hearts and minds are already there within us, given to us by Nature itself.

I always start by trying to remember that I am fitted as standard with the equipment necessary to practice the four cardinal virtues.

Am I feeling the desire to control, possess, or consume? I can choose to practice the habit of temperance. This is not self-denial, but the ability to consider what moves my passions with a concern for what is good for both others and for myself.

Am I feeling fear in the face of a danger? I can choose to practice the habit of courage. This is not recklessness, but the ability to consider what threatens me by recalling what is properly my human good, to live with true conviction in action.

Am I feeling the need to be selfish and greedy? I can choose to practice the habit of justice. This is not wastefulness, but the ability to consider that what is good for me, and what is good for others, is never in conflict, but must be in harmony.

Finally, am I feeling confused and without direction? I can choose to practice the habit of wisdom. This is not intellectual posturing, but the ability to know that what is true and false requires nothing more than an open-minded humility about what is real.

No toolkit I can buy will ever beat the one I was already given. 

Written in 12/2011