Stoicism: How to turn your sadness into strength
“It can be difficult to process sadness. People often try to numb it, avoid it, or deny that they’re even experiencing it, instead of better understanding and working through the emotion. The Stoics offer a more head-on approach. This school of philosophy is often falsely associated with the suppression of emotions. But it’s more accurate to say that the Stoics were interested in how people can respond virtuously to life’s trials and tragedies. The answer, according to general Stoic thought, is that we shouldn’t deny emotions or the things that make us feel pain or sadness, but rather strive to accept that which we cannot control and do our best to process our emotions in a way that puts us on a productive path forward.
Stoicism teaches us that not only should we accept the difficult events in our life, but we should embrace them. These perceived hardships are opportunities to develop courage and resilience to aid in our personal growth. Each test is placed before us as a means to strengthen our own character. Embrace this, and find the life lessons that can be uncovered in your sadness.”
Read the whole article at Big Think and FreshStoic
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💬 what are your thoughts on this approach?
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@globalBraid3744
I've been reading the book Meditations by Marcus Aurelius and it's an interesting topic as far as I can see.
I feel that most of the Stoic philosophy is very rooted in living in accordance with nature, hence why there's this idea of acceptance built into it, also given that there's a deterministic approach that essentially dictates that the events of the world are already predetermined.
When it comes to sadness, I understand that it is important to acknowledge its existence. However, I feel it's also important that we bring action into it. I'm not sure I can generalize this, but there's certainly an element of action that is brought upon you when it comes to sadness and even other feelings involved.
What does sadness inspire you to do and become? I've been through so many moments of sadness that inspired me to better understand myself and that includes what I was aiming at, my values, my wants, and needs, and certainly one of the fundamental axioms of Stoicism is focused on action. You need action to have and cultivate a virtuous life.
To conclude, I suppose you really need to make sure that while emotions are acknowledged, you don't get drowned in them, because they deprive or hinder the capacity you have to take the next step forward toward its resolution.