For if the reality of good lies in what
is in our power, there is no room for envy or jealousy. And you will not wish
to be praetor, or prefect or consul, but to be free; and there is but one way
to freedom—to despise what is not in our power.
—Epictetus,
The Handbook, Chapter 19 (tr
Matheson)
We
assume we can acquire greater freedom by having more, when freedom is in fact
found by having less. We think we become more secure by building ourselves up
in the world, when security is in fact rooted in not caring for our place in
the world. Freedom and security are never granted from the outside, but proceed
from the inside.
I have
become increasingly aware that most every single obstacle I face arises from
allowing myself to be carried away by impressions. To succumb to anger,
despair, jealously, fear, or lust is really nothing more than acting through a
passion loosed from an understanding of what is good for me.
I have
immediately allowed myself to be defeated once I permit this to happen, and
getting out of such a pattern is much harder than falling into it. The trick to
being invincible is learning to not even take the bait.
If I can
understand what I should rightly desire, and therefore also what I should not
desire, I will hardly be jealous or resentful when I do not receive the things
I don’t even need. I can approach this from the inside out, by recalling what I
truly require to be happy, or from the outside in, by recalling why the
trinkets I crave won’t fill those requirements.
That a
craving for externals, upon things outside of our own power, breeds jealousy is
a sure sign that we are enslaving ourselves. I need only consider how the drive
for money, power, or pleasure brings out the worst in all of us. But you will
hardly see truly good men, and not the seekers of fame and reputation, squabble
and bicker over their virtue and character. Resentment comes only when we
define ourselves by the things that aren’t really ours to begin with.
If I am
attracted to a person, to a position, or to a thing, I need to simply ask
myself what good will come from my drive to possess them, or even if I can
truly possess them at all? We want to get that girl, score that job, or own
that car, but none of them will make me any better, or any happier. I am
defined by my own actions, not by how I am acted upon.
I have
repeatedly seen cigarette smokers, for example, driving themselves crazy
because a long meeting is keeping them from their nicotine fix. The non-smokers
simply can’t understand, because this isn’t something that they crave.
So it is
with many things in life. The man enslaved to his circumstances will struggle
to get a hold of what he cannot truly have, while the virtuous man simply walks
away from such temptations. This isn’t because he is superhuman, or unfeeling,
or gifted with a will of steel, but simply because he understands that he
doesn’t need to want what he doesn’t already have.
He is
invincible because he is free, and he is free because he seeks to possess only
himself.
Written in 6/1997
Image: A Sea Harrier takes off from HMS Invincible. I can never resist an image of my favorite warplane or my favorite warship.
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