Over the last few years of my adult life, I have adopted
some of the practices of Stoicism, but is it a beneficial way to live my life?
Stoicism is “a philosophy that
counsels self-control, detachment, and acceptance of one’s fate as identified
by the objective use of reason… Rather than pursue pleasure and trying to avoid
pain, the stoic seeks serenity (peace of mind) through self-discipline…Stoics
believe that nothing can make you happy or unhappy without your consent”
(Chapter 7 Introduction). “Stoicism is a ‘mature’ philosophy in that its
appeal seems to increase with experience—that is, with frustration and
disappointment. Growing up emotionally and philosophically involves adopting
realistic expectations and accepting one’s limits.” (Section 7-8f). “The Stoics
learned, as many of us do, that our lives are not entirely our own… Rather than
complain about what they could not control, the Stoics chose to master what
they could: their own minds. By mastering their thoughts, they believed, they
could master their feelings. Stoics believed that serenity comes to that
individual whose will is in accord with the World Reason, the Logos,
for right thinking leads to a reduction of frustration and anxiety” (Section 7-7).
Yes, practicing Stoicism is a
beneficial way to live my life because it brings me more happiness and less
anxiety.
I am the sole administrative assistant for a growing tax and
accounting office. We are in the middle of our busy season due to income taxes.
The days only get longer and the work load only gets heavier until we get past
the deadline. It is an extremely stressful time of year for everyone in the
office and I have relied on Stoic practices to remain happy even through these
intensely strenuous few months. I get yelled at over the phone by clients at my
job, I get pressure from co-workers and clients to complete tasks as quickly as
possible, and I have to work overtime for about a month before the tax deadline.
Even under these circumstances, I do not get upset or unhappy thanks to
practicing Stoicism.
I practice self-control and do not allow yelling, attitude,
heavy work load, or mandatory overtime to change my behavior or make me
unhappy. I realize and accept the fact that I have no control over the
situation and only have control over myself and how to handle the situation
going forward. I think that no amount of anxiety, anger, or sadness can change
the past, it can only make a person unhappy in the present and/or future. Practicing
detachment allows me to leave work at work and not bring any of the stress home
with me, which also brings me more happiness and less anxiety.
I think that this is a much happier approach to dealing with
confrontation because I have handled it differently in the past. As a teenager
I worked as a server in a restaurant. I would find myself being treated poorly
by angry customers, often with no provocation. I allowed this to have a
negative effect on me. I would get stressed out, worried, and upset when
someone would yell at me. I would allow it affect me for the rest of me shift
and even for the rest of the day. I think that if I was to have that stressful
job now, I could be perfectly happy even in those negative confrontations due
to the practices of Stoicism. I think having control over your mind and
practicing detachment allows you to be happy and have less anxiety even in
trying situations.
Word Count: 592
Dibs
ReplyDeletePeer Comments by (Polarbearz123)
ReplyDeleteTotal number of words: 592
Spelling errors: I identified two spelling errors. In paragraph two the sentence starting with "The days only get longer and the work load only gets heavier..." workload should be one word. Also in paragraph three the word "work load" is used and misspelled again.
Grammar errors: I found two grammar errors in the concluding paragraph both in the same sentence starting with "I would allow it affect me for the rest of me shift and even for the rest of the day." The word "to" needs to be added behind "it" to make it say "I would allow it to affect me" and using the word "me" is incorrect it should be "my" making the sentence state "affect me for the rest of my shift...".
Lack of clarity: The author has some running sentences that need to be broken up into separate sentences. Even though the grammar is technically correct, different word choice and positioning of words would help the passage flow better.
Organization of ideas: Yes the author has good organization of their thoughts and ideas.
Did the author answer their question? Yes the author did answer their question.
Did the author provide a concrete example that clearly illustrates their main point? Yes I feel the author provided good examples that illustrates their main point.
How does the author's concrete example illustrate their main point?
The author provides details of their current stressful job to Stoicisms and how being detached from peoples behavior towards them, like a stoic, is a beneficial way to live life.
Do I agree or disagree with the author's answer and why? Yes I agree with the authors answer because I too believe that having a positive attitude and not allowing others to ruin your mood or day is very beneficial.
What is the concrete example that clearly illustrates why you agree or disagree with the author? The example that is clearly illustrated in the authors blog is "I realize and accept the fact that I have no control over the situation and only have control over myself and how to handle the situation going forward." That clearly illustrates the main point and I agree with it completely.
Explanations: My explanation on why I agree with the authors clear illustration is I work as a server so I too deal with people that sometimes have negative attitudes and go out of their way to make situations more difficult. However, I have learned that the only thing I have control over is how I react and my own attitude. Having self control of yourself and brushing off others hurtful words or negativity will only help make your life easier. Holding on to unimportantly angry and internalizing those emotions will only destroy you mentally.
Nice peer-review Polarbearz123.
DeleteI agree with my responder. I agree with the grammar and spelling corrections that they made. I agree with my responder’s assessment of my answer because they agreed with all of my main points and have similar personal experiences on the matter. The responder gave an example of how they also have a stressful job. They too use self-control to handle hurtful words, attitudes, and negativity on a daily basis to maintain their happiness. They state that they also realize the only thing that they can control is their own attitude, and have put this to the test themselves at their stressful serving job.
ReplyDeleteOver the last few years of my adult life, I have adopted some of the practices of Stoicism, but is it a beneficial way to live my life?
ReplyDelete[Stoicism is “a philosophy that counsels self-control, detachment, and acceptance of one’s fate as identified by the objective use of reason… Rather than pursue pleasure and trying to avoid pain, the stoic seeks serenity (peace of mind) through self-discipline…Stoics believe that nothing can make you happy or unhappy without your consent” (Chapter 7 Introduction).]←(This is not a proper use of a quote. You should only use quoted material when providing textual support or when emphasizing a particular way that an author stated something. In other cases, you should paraphrase and provide a source citation. You should never let the quote do the explaining or use a quote as if it were your own words, even if you provide citation information.)
[“Stoicism is a ‘mature’ philosophy in that its appeal seems to increase with experience—that is, with frustration and disappointment. Growing up emotionally and philosophically involves adopting realistic expectations and accepting one’s limits (delete period)” (Section 7-8f). “The Stoics learned, as many of us do, that our lives are not entirely our own… Rather than complain about what they could not control, the Stoics chose to master what they could: their own minds. By mastering their thoughts, they believed, they could master their feelings. Stoics believed that serenity comes to that individual whose will is in accord with the World Reason, the Logos, for right thinking leads to a reduction of frustration and anxiety” (Section 7-7).]←(The same comments about your first quotes apply to these quotes.)
Yes, practicing Stoicism is a beneficial way to live my life because it brings me more happiness and less anxiety.
I am the sole administrative assistant for a growing tax and accounting office. We are in the middle of our busy season due to income taxes. The days only get longer and the [workload] only gets heavier until we get past the deadline. It is an extremely stressful time of year for everyone in the office and I have relied on Stoic practices to remain happy even through these intensely strenuous few months. I get yelled at over the phone by clients at my job, I get pressure from co-workers and clients to complete tasks as quickly as possible, and I have to work overtime for about a month before the tax deadline. Even under these circumstances, I do not get upset or unhappy thanks to practicing Stoicism.
I practice self-control and do not allow yelling, attitude, heavy [workload], or mandatory overtime to change my behavior or make me unhappy. I realize and accept the fact that I have no control over the situation[,] and [that I] only have control over myself and how to handle the situation going forward. I think that no amount of anxiety, anger, or sadness can change the past[.] [I]t can only make a person unhappy in the present and/or future. Practicing detachment allows me to leave work at work and not bring any of the stress home with me, which also brings me more happiness and less anxiety.
ReplyDelete(Be consistent with your paragraph spacing.)
I think that this is a much happier approach to dealing with confrontation because I have handled it differently in the past. As a teenager I worked as a server in a restaurant. I would find myself being treated poorly by angry customers, often with no provocation. I allowed this to have a negative effect on me. I would get stressed out, worried, and upset when someone would yell at me. I would allow it affect me for the rest of me shift and even for the rest of the day. I think that if I was to have that stressful job now, I could be perfectly happy even in those negative confrontations due to the practices of Stoicism. I think having control over your mind and practicing detachment allows you to be happy and have less anxiety even in trying situations.
(Interesting post. Another student posted about Stoicism. See my comments to her post: http://philosophyexplorer.blogspot.com/2016/02/blog-post-one-philosopher-king-to.html#comment-form. It would be interesting to know how you might respond.)