Why You Should Live Like a Stoic

A truly successful person is someone who makes amends of life without desires that comfort one’s pleasure and happiness.

When we look towards our day-to-day lives, we see an uncontrollable hunger for ultimate control and happiness outside our life. Unfortunately, this doesn’t change the reality that we were born into the universe as hungry, vulnerable, and confused. We attempt to extinguish these feelings through achieving higher status and obtaining more wealth.

So what even is Stoicism?

Stoicism, a philosophy that originated from Ancient Greece, taught that virtue is based on knowledge; the wise live following nature’s divine reason (also known as Fate or Providence) and are unconcerned about the ups and downs of fortune, as well as enjoyment and pain. Stoicism’s principles help us find presence, calmness, grit, and resilience in a universe of increasing anxiety, sorrow, chaos, and insatiable desire for wanting more. In Stoicism, we live in a reality that doesn’t care about our personal opinion of it.

Should we depend on wealth for happiness?

Money buys you everything these days. That is why we see millions of individuals worldwide pouring their hearts out to find a job that pays them well. However, through the principles of Stoicism, we learn that there is nothing inherently wrong with working towards wealth, fame, power, or control, but in the mindset of the Stoics, these things are merely to be enjoyed if they do work out but not to be dependent on for joy and happiness. If one depends on wealth, fame, and power, their happiness in life is susceptible to being inconsistent, taken, or never achieved.

“The basic idea is that for a human being to be in an ideal state is to lack all dissatisfaction with anything about the world, while at the same time being conscious and intelligent. One way of doing this might be to satisfy all of one’s desires. Still, the Stoics held, not unreasonably, that a human being is by nature unable to do this, both because one’s powers are so limited and because desires, at least for certain things, are unlimited by anything except life span,” -Epictetus, Nicholas P. White.

Epictetus, an Ancient Greek Stoic philosopher, essentially says that everyone strives to become conscious and intelligent by satisfying all their desires. Unfortunately, this is impossible as one’s power is limited because of the unlimited desires we have. Epictetus suggests that we must strive towards acceptance and indifference towards everything around us and focus our attention to things we can control. This is a fundamental driver towards why I choose to follow and explore a life of Stoicism. When I put this belief and philosophy into practice, it will enlighten me towards the thing I can control and ‘let go’ of the things I cannot control to relieve the burden of living a life filled with false displays of happiness. This false prospect generates an endless feedback loop of unsatisfied hunger. Stoicism allows me to understand the world and educates me to make wiser decisions to live a sustainable life.

Do I live like a Stoic?

Yes I do live like a Stoic. But the crazy part is that I never knew what Stoicism meant until after living life like a Stoic.

“Whenever you encounter some kind of apparent pleasure, be on guard, as in the case of other appearances, not to be carried away by it, but let the thing wait for you and allow yourself to delay,”-Epictetus, Nicholas P. White.

All my life, I’ve been told to control my desires and choose the right course of action that results in better judgment. That is probably why I stopped consuming food from fast-food chains every week. Back when I was a little kid, I would urge my parents to drive me to fast-food restaurants and buy food because it would make me happy. However, as I grew older, I realized that though fast food may be delicious, everything comes at a cost. Eventually, I realized that I consume fast food because it is a pleasure. Keep in mind; this doesn’t imply that I will stop purchasing fast food. It means I won’t be consuming as much as I used to back when I was a little kid.

Living a life as a Stoic, it is essential to realize that death is inevitable, and one must come to terms and accept their demise. In the Hindu culture, I learned that one who fears death is the one who has committed sins in their life. Reincarnation is a significant concept that many preachers believe in the Hindu culture. The one who does good deeds in their first life will go on to live a good life, but the one who has committed sins will take form a life where they will suffer and reflect on their mistake (example: mice).

Can living like a Stoic be challenging?

Though the life of Stoicism related to my life in many aspects, I believe it presented few challenges. The Stoic emphasizes that you live life “as they do happen” and avoid worrying about the potential consequences. A month ago, before taking my 4th Biology quiz, I aimed to score a high grade to drop my 5th Biology quiz and relieve some pressure. Things, however, didn’t go my way, and I ended up scoring a grade that disappointed me. When events like this occur, I found it to be a little hard to tell myself to live life “as they do happen.” Though it is a terrible deed to control your destiny, it is difficult to explain to yourself not to expect a specific grade and realize that the grade you received was “good” when in reality, it is not.

As a Stoic, it is crucial to understand that there is no one to blame for this incident except me. Lack of studying, nervousness, and fatigue are part of the many reasons why I could have scored a low grade on the 4th Biology quiz. Instead of mourning the results, I need to learn to accept this fate and approach life as it sees fit. Eventually, there will be another opportunity to showcase my talent once more. In this case, it was the 5th Biology quiz, where I studied and prepared harder for the assignment. As expected in life, through hard work, you succeed; I attained the grade I desired in the 5th Biology quiz through my own will, hard work, and determination.

Will I continue to live a life like a Stoic?

Yes, I will continue to pursue a life as Stoic as I believe it contains many principles that will lead me to make wiser decisions. As I move forward in life, I want to ensure that uncontrollable hunger does not consume me for ultimate control and happiness outside life. I understand that I am bound to receive offers that attract pleasures such as wealth, power, and fame at some point in my life. I must apply the principles of Stoicism to avoid these pleasures, therefore make the right decisions of how I should live my life.