STOICISM | How to Worry Less in Hard Times
Worse than war is the very fear of war. Seneca. Human history has never been free from adversity. Events like war, the outbreak of plagues, and natural disasters have caused dark times tainted by suffering and death. Without a doubt, the ancient Stoics had their fair share of hardship.
And the difficulties of life are the core of their philosophies. In hard times of great uncertainty, many people start worrying about their stable, comfortable lives falling apart, which is not only realistic; sometimes, it’s inevitable. The prospect of undergoing significant changes by the hands of misfortune, not knowing where this change leads to, can be nerve-racking.
The Stoics had some profound things to say about dealing with external circumstances, and how to live peacefully in the face of hardship and a troubled future. Living in a society in which mass consumption is the norm, and companies brainwash us into believing that we need their products to feel complete, the distinction between what we truly need and what’s obsolete has become invisible.
In wealthy countries, people rarely concern themselves with their basic needs, because these are a given. But when hard times are knocking on our door, it’s time to create clarity, decide what our priorities are, and learn to deal with uncertainty. First of all, it’s essential to remember the dichotomy of control and to be constantly aware of the fact that we only control our own actions.
According to Epictetus, things like our body, property, and reputation are not up to us. When the economy declines, for example, there isn’t much we can do about it. We could lose a lot of money in the stock market, our jobs and, thus, our income. But from a Stoic point of view, by tying our happiness to these things in the first place, we have already set ourselves up for disappointment.
As Epictetus stated, and I quote: “The things in our control are by nature free, unrestrained, unhindered; but those not in our control are weak, slavish, restrained, belonging to others.