Stoicism

Stoicism teaches the development of self-control as a means of overcoming destructive emotions; the philosophy holds that becoming a clear and unbiased thinker allows one to understand the universal reason (logos).

Stoics believe in 4 virtues we should all nurture in order to be best version of ourselves and also be of use to society (people around us). Those virtues are: Wisdom, courage, justice and moderation.

Wisdom, for example, can also mean a good calculating mind, a quick wit, discretion, subtlety, resourcefulness and plain good sense. It is the ability to recognise what is and isn’t within our power, what is good and bad in the world, and functions as the cornerstone of the Four Virtues.

Courage includes the habits of cheerfulness, endurance, confidence, industriousness and maintaining moral principles, making the space in your mind to face your own fears and to carry and manage difficult feelings, including hunger, pain or tiredness.

Justice, which though it might bring to mind the idea that we have the responsibility to somehow introduce a legal system into our daily lives, can also signify the ideas of honesty, fairness, equity, piety and fair dealing. Far more achievable, perhaps. In our day-to-day existence, we can easily strive to help others, do good, aim for a common benefit to all (picking up rubbish, for instance), work towards kindness and fairness and avoid anger.

Moderation also incorporates modesty, self-control and good discipline. We can sacrifice ourselves in service of Wisdom and Courage, avoid greed and vanity, take an honest look at what we truly need, and limit our wants to those things that our reasonable judgement decides. Moderation is not simply selfdiscipline where we choose to exercise it – doing three hours at the gym just so we can justify eating too much junk food that makes us feel worse isn’t Moderation. Dedicating ourselves to working longer hours so we can achieve more in our jobs at the cost of relationships with family and friends isn’t Moderation; staying on the sofa for an entire weekend and not stepping outside for fresh air or to visit friends after a hard week at work isn’t Moderation. The middle path might not be easy to find at first, but as with all Stoicism, the more we practise, the simpler our choices and our decisions become.

I am a guy who practice stoicism in my daily life and trying to nurture those 4 virtues. It seems stoicism has become super popular nowadays. What about you?