life can be extremely stressful at times
and this is basically because we are
holding on to illusions of control and
because our minds are overthinking and
ruminating all the time
in most cases holding on to things is a
waste of energy and overdoing it causes
a lot of mental and even physical pain
now stoic philosophy has several ideas
that help with letting go so in this
video I will present you three stoic
ways of letting go let's start with the
first one
becoming aware of indifference in stoic
ethics we can find a system of virtue
vice and so-called indifference now what
most people seem to hold on to are
preferred indifference so much so that
these have become the center of their
pursuit indifference are basically
anything that isn't virtue or vice which
means that they don't necessarily lead
to misery but not to happiness either
hence the indifference associated with
these things among preferred
indifference are wealth
reputation material possessions
basically the same things that
Epictetus points out as not in our
control now the thing is that these are
not only beyond our control
they don't lead to lasting satisfaction
even though the mind think so also not
having them will not obstruct our
ability to be happy in regards to the
ancient stoic texts Seneca has some wise
words to say about this
whoever has largely surrendered himself
to the power of fortune has made for
himself a huge web of disquietude from
which he cannot get free if one would
win away to safety there's but one road
to despise externals and to be contended
with that which is honorable for those
who regard anything is better than
virtue or belief that there's any good
except virtue are spreading their arms
together in that which fortune tosses
abroad and are anxiously awaiting her
favours end quote now this quote is from
a letter to his friend Lucilius in
same letter he emphasizes that the mere
grasping for externals will never get
you to things that you've imagined to
get in the first place the joy of
externals is always temporary
moreover greedy hands often end up with
nothing but frustration so if we know
that at the end of the day preferred
indifference are simply overrated and
that we can still be happy without them
or with just the basic necessities we
might stop chasing them so much
or at least loosen the grip and know
that not having these things is not the
end of the world
isn't that a calming thought to remember
impermanence the world is completely out
of control life comes life goes empires
rise empires fall and it's just a matter
of time until planet Earth vanishes
because the Sun swallows it the house we
live in the money we have in the bank
the people we love it's all going down
anyway from this perspective we may see
that it's kind of crazy to spend our
lives attaching ourselves sometimes
painfully to the world around us the
preferred indifference that our
previously talked about not only failed
to give us lasting satisfaction they do
not last themselves either this is yet
another reason why it's better to let go
of them emperor and stoic philosopher
Marcus Aurelius observed that change and
flux constantly create and recreate the
world I quote we find ourselves in a
river which of the things around us
should we value when none of them can
offer a firm foothold like an attachment
to a sparrow we glimpse it and it's gone
and life itself like the decoction of
blood the drawing in of air we expel the
power of breathing we drew in at birth
just yesterday or the day before
breathing it out like the air we exhale
at each moment and quote so we could
propose ourselves the following lesson
in the form of a question why hold on
tightly to things that are in constant
flux three residing in the present
moment the Third Way refers to the human
obsession with what's in the past and
what's yet to come
it's understand
because the past is a source of life
lessons and the future is something we
might want to plan for the problem
however is that some people live
entirely outside the place where life is
happening the present moment their
worries about the future make them so
uptight
and sometimes paralyzed while the heavy
burden of the past is resting on their
shoulders Marcus Aurelius was aware of
the human tendency to live outside the
present moment I quote the present is
the same for everyone its loss is the
same for everyone and it should be clear
that a brief instant is all that is lost
for you can't lose either the past or
the future how could you lose what you
don't have and quote so letting go in
this case literally means letting go of
what you don't have sure you have your
thoughts about it in your mind but
thoughts are the fabrication of the mind
and don't represent the world around you
they're mere illusions fantasies
calculations a mind is a great tool the
Stoics see rational thinking as a gift
that sets humans apart from animals and
makes it possible for us to live a life
of virtue however it's important that we
use the tools that we're given and not
the other way around
thank you for watching
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