A few days ago I posted a quote from an old fella, Epictetus. He was born a slave and lived in ancient Greece. As would happen in those days, he wound being a Stoic philosopher. His teachings were written down by one of his students. He believed that philosophy was a way of life and not just a theoretical thing.
His main premise was that all external things are determined by fate and out of our control. Individuals are responsible for their own actions, which they can examine and control with self discipline He went on to say that suffering occurs from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is in our power to control. He also felt it was our duty to care for our fellow man. This was the way to happiness and peace of mind.
That is pretty much what Epictetus had to say about things and I can't say I find much to argue with. I have reached the same conclusions as some of his writings. I think most of us have and it is really just a matter of writing them down. In all fairness and honesty I can not take credit for these thoughts. I heard much of it from my parents and grandparents. I have read it in books and was taught it through Church lessons and morality stories. It is only the reaching of an understanding of these messages that I can claim. When the messages become beliefs, they become knowledge.
Epictetus did say that we could examine and control our own emotions. That is the only thing we can control and I see the truth in that. I would take it a step farther to say we influence the next generation. We condition their response to the external. Isn't that the purpose of parenting ? The general state of society today has been created by that. It is our parenting that has created what exists today. We are now the external as our children have grown into adulthood. They are now doing the influencing. Have we done our jobs ? Sadly I think we may have failed in some regards. Have we conditioned our children to be complainers ? Is that why this insistence of everything being equal or politically correct. From our days of protest and social rebellion have we advanced the next generation ? A generation that is attempting to alter the external through litigation ? A generation insisting others change to suit them ? A generation of instant communication and unlimited knowledge literally at their fingertips ? Has this become a distraction ? Is there no time for quiet contemplation and the drawing of conclusions ? Or is that the function of the elders ? In our advanced years our duty shifts to imparting that knowledge to the current generation ? A generation not of our making, but a generation that is the fruit of that generation, our grandchildren ?
Epictetus said that suffering comes from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our control. He said that was the path to happiness and peace of mind. And in saying that I believe he was saying you can condition your response to the external to have it effect you either in a positive or negative way. That response is the only thing you have control over. You are responsible for your own happiness and as a consequence , your own peace of mind. My Grandmother was fond of saying, " do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will take of itself ". Was she saying, do not worry about what you can not control ? I think she was. The old folks can teach us a lot, if we but listen.
What I'm trying to say here is this; we can quote Epictetus, Socrates, Plato or Marcus Aurelius and sound learned. The thing is our parents and grandparents told us the same thing only with different words. Ever heard, " don't cry over spilled milk ? " What does that mean ? If you don't have anything nice to say ,don't say anything at all. Maybe it really is as simple as, wear clean underwear in case you are in an accident ! Epictetus did say, All external things are determined by fate !
His main premise was that all external things are determined by fate and out of our control. Individuals are responsible for their own actions, which they can examine and control with self discipline He went on to say that suffering occurs from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is in our power to control. He also felt it was our duty to care for our fellow man. This was the way to happiness and peace of mind.
That is pretty much what Epictetus had to say about things and I can't say I find much to argue with. I have reached the same conclusions as some of his writings. I think most of us have and it is really just a matter of writing them down. In all fairness and honesty I can not take credit for these thoughts. I heard much of it from my parents and grandparents. I have read it in books and was taught it through Church lessons and morality stories. It is only the reaching of an understanding of these messages that I can claim. When the messages become beliefs, they become knowledge.
Epictetus did say that we could examine and control our own emotions. That is the only thing we can control and I see the truth in that. I would take it a step farther to say we influence the next generation. We condition their response to the external. Isn't that the purpose of parenting ? The general state of society today has been created by that. It is our parenting that has created what exists today. We are now the external as our children have grown into adulthood. They are now doing the influencing. Have we done our jobs ? Sadly I think we may have failed in some regards. Have we conditioned our children to be complainers ? Is that why this insistence of everything being equal or politically correct. From our days of protest and social rebellion have we advanced the next generation ? A generation that is attempting to alter the external through litigation ? A generation insisting others change to suit them ? A generation of instant communication and unlimited knowledge literally at their fingertips ? Has this become a distraction ? Is there no time for quiet contemplation and the drawing of conclusions ? Or is that the function of the elders ? In our advanced years our duty shifts to imparting that knowledge to the current generation ? A generation not of our making, but a generation that is the fruit of that generation, our grandchildren ?
Epictetus said that suffering comes from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our control. He said that was the path to happiness and peace of mind. And in saying that I believe he was saying you can condition your response to the external to have it effect you either in a positive or negative way. That response is the only thing you have control over. You are responsible for your own happiness and as a consequence , your own peace of mind. My Grandmother was fond of saying, " do not worry about tomorrow, tomorrow will take of itself ". Was she saying, do not worry about what you can not control ? I think she was. The old folks can teach us a lot, if we but listen.
What I'm trying to say here is this; we can quote Epictetus, Socrates, Plato or Marcus Aurelius and sound learned. The thing is our parents and grandparents told us the same thing only with different words. Ever heard, " don't cry over spilled milk ? " What does that mean ? If you don't have anything nice to say ,don't say anything at all. Maybe it really is as simple as, wear clean underwear in case you are in an accident ! Epictetus did say, All external things are determined by fate !
No comments:
Post a Comment