Day 3 Stoicism

Without us knowing, there are plenty of choices we have to make in our day to day lives. Which shirt to wear, what to eat, who we talk to, where we go and so on. These choices we make may seem unnoticeable at first but little by little these make us who we are. However, what matters is whether we choose what is good for us or what is not.

The Tale of Hercules is truly relevant when it comes to making choices in our lives.

The story goes :

Socrates supposedly tells a story of the young Hercules at a literal and metaphorical "fork in the road" with his life. As he is sitting and contemplating his next steps two goddesses appear to him. The first rushes to him and while she is beautiful it is because the ornaments and make up that she tries so hard to apply to make her look this way. She promises him to follow her down her path towards "pleasantness and ease" and he will find Happiness and fortune unlike any other off the backs of other men. The second woman approached her dress humble with natural beauty. To his surprise she told him that she only promised him "a long and difficult road with challenges and trials beyond what any man can endure" but "nothing that is really good and admirable is granted by the gods to men without some effort and application". She only promises him that she would give him the self discipline, courage, justice and wisdom to face this path and at the end he would earn true Happiness by reflecting on his own praiseworthy and honorable deeds. The first goddess was Kaika or "Vice" and the second goddess was Arete or "Virtue". We all know that Hercules picked the second goddess and the rest was history.

From : http://www.trentsimmonstri.com/blog/2016/1/18/the-choice-of-hercules-1

Eudaimonia a term that is used by stoics that pertains to having an authentic sense and fulfillment of happiness is what most of us seek. However, we confuse this with pleasure (Hedone). We fill ourselves with these short-term fixes or pleasures from external objects, things to make us feel happy for a small amount of time.

Donald Robertson says that in order to reach Eudaimonia or Stoic Joy one must remember that:

1. The Stoics tended to view joy not as the goal of life , which is wisdom, but as a by-product of it, so they believed that trying to pursue it directly might lead us down the wrong path if it's sought at the expense of wisdom.

2. Joy in the Stoic sense is fundamentally active rather than passive; it comes from perceiving the virtuous quality of our own deeds, the things we do, whereas bodily pleasures arise from experiences that happen to us , even if they're a consequence of actions like eating, drinking , or having sex.

In addition, we too must be grateful for the things that we have now. The ability to be grateful in the things around us rather than desiring things that we do not have engages our mind to be more positive and happy.