The Art of Living - ancient philosophy still stands

Beauty in The Art of Living by Epictetus and Sharon Lebell

Epictetus was an ancient Stoic philosopher, who was born a slave in A.D 55. This early genius,  recognized as a brilliant philosophical mind of his time, was eventually freed to bring great value that still stands today. Epictetus believed the primary job of philosophy is to help us ordinary mortals meet the everyday challenges of daily life, and to help us deal with life's inevitable major losses, disappointments and grief. He was arguably the West's first and best guide to living the most peaceful life possible.

The Serenity Prayer is in keeping with Epictetus' teachings...

"Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change
the courage to change the things I can
and the wisdom to know the difference"

Epictetus believed we need to bring our actions and desires into harmony in order to achieve inner serenity and thus personal freedom. His prescription for the good life was simple - master our desires, perform our necessary duties and think clearly about ourselves and our relations within our larger community. He viewed professional achievement, wealth, power and fame as incidental and irrelevant to true happiness - instead, he placed importance on what sort of person we are becoming and what sort of life we're living. So! What is in our control; our own opinions, aspirations, desires and the things that repel us. These things are in our control because we always have a choice about the contents and character of our inner lives. Outside of our control are what kind of body we have, the family and status we're born into and how we are regarded by others. If we attempt to control the actions of others, our pursuits will be thwarted and we will likely become frustrated, anxious and fault-finding. By contrast, if we know and attend to what actually concerns us, we cannot be made to do anything against our will, and should thereby avoid much hurt and suffering. So! Most importantly, we should train ourselves to no longer worry about the things that are outside of our control.

One last, important thing... we tend to focus on either getting what we desire or avoiding what repels us.... Epictetus would advise that we focus only on what we can control, that we rein in our desires and focus on things worthy of our desire, that we can control... and do so with grace, finesse and flexibility... because ultimately people will always be just what they are, and not what we wish them to be. Hugs.

Blessings,

Chatgirl