Dear aVoid:

You express yourself so well.. I am impressed!

“Both Buddhism and Stoicism believe that life has an inevitable suffering. For Buddhism finds meaning by ending suffering. Stoicism finds meaning by accepting suffering“. I wanted to read more about stoicism and found it very simply and clearly outlined in minimalism. com/ articles/ stoicism meaning:

“At the heart of the Stoic way of living is the ongoing process of: * developing self-control * exercising clear judgment, and * overcoming destructive emotions. The following 5 principles provide a roadmap to following the Stoic philosophy: 1. Manage your expectations and judgments… When there’s a big gap between what you want or expect and reality, it causes anxiety, frustration, and discord. You can have dreams, hopes, and beliefs, but better that they are sensible”.

“2. Be realistic about what you have the power to change…There’s a lot about life you have no ability to influence. However, there’s much you can change (namely your own thoughts, habits and actions). Western society — the U.S. in particular — has an obsession with winning and succeeding. In reality, there are things that you won’t be able to do, even if you ‘put your mind to it’. Learn how to distinguish what’s in your power and what’s not. A good rule of thumb is to start with self”.

“3. Understand the meaning of equanimity— and practice it… Equanimity means calm and composure… which is central to the philosophy. Humans have a built in fight or flight mechanism that triggers anytime there’s a perceived threat… With practice you can learn how to master this mechanism instead of allowing it to command you”.

“4. Call out your emotions for exactly what they are… In the midst of adverse situations your thoughts are typically muddled by overpowering emotions, so it’s easy to misinterpret what you are really feeling. By calming down enough to name the emotion and its underlying cause, you’ll be better able to address the situation in an appropriate way. One unfounded myth of Stoicism is that practitioners seek to suppress emotions. But what they really do is recognize emotions and then put them in check so they don’t cause damage”.

“5. Live in harmony with nature — particularly human nature… replace impulse behavior with purpose, intention, and logic.”

Thank you, aVoid for filling a void within me in regard to understanding stoicism!

anita

How are you, aVoid?

anita

would not let me edit the bad

What is the point of prayer and meditation?
Old woman: To bring you closer to the Great Mystery.
So I can understand it?
Old: woman: No. So you can participate in it.
Richard Wagamese

Dear aVoid:

“I see progress. I am doing better than before“- congrats for making progress!

As I read your recent post, I thought to myself: finally, I find a person (you) whose pessimism regarding the future of humanity matches mine. But here is what I found out some time ago: the misery I envision in the future has already happened in my life. Thinking back about growing up (or as I prefer to call it, growing in) with my mother, that eternity-feeling experience felt so miserable, so distressing, that subjectively: I already experienced the end of humanity.

Looking for a possible parallel in your life, I find this: “Just like a lot of people, I’ve had a rough childhood. My mother was absent and my father was strict. His family abused me and I resented them for it. I spent most my life wanting revenge. I had become addicted to alcohol and other vices. I wanted to end my life so many times, and I’ve tried” (July 28, 2022 in your Please Help Me thread).

On that same day, you wrote: “I moved across the country to start over“- I too moved far away from my Original Misery (OM), across continents, seas and an ocean… there were moments, days, weeks that felt like freedom, but all too soon, the OM made itself all too known once again.

“I think it’s safe to say that I have chronic depression“, you wrote on that same day. I think of my OM (the misery of my childhood) as chronic depression.

You wrote on Aug 15, 2022: “I understand that I’ve got some deep trauma from my childhood. I suffered greatly and when I became independent I continued to suffer because the pain has burrowed so deep into my soul“- that’s the OM, deeply burrowed in one’s soul.

On that same day, you wrote: “I always hear his voice in my head, convincing me that the only thing this world has to offer is the inevitable continuing of pain and loneliness. Silently, I’ve been living in my own hell. And so many times I dream to end it all“- this pain, this OM, is one own’s hell. I too had the desire, as a child and onward, to end my life (not anymore). I believe that it’s the same misery of childhood that we keep feeling.

You wrote yesterday, Nov 21, 2022: “My existence in this world feels lonely and it is sometimes hard to sincerely smile. I do believe that we are living in a world where we have to suffer alone… The economy is failing… we are all depressed“- you felt lonely when the economy was booming, didn’t you? I suffered my OM in all kinds of economies, in different countries, and I felt it long ago, before Climate Change was a thing in the news and on people’s minds.

There is a way to lessen and lessen that OM, I lessened it and I am not done lessening it. Maybe we can cooperate here, on your thread, for the purpose of lessening our individual and collective OM. Please let me know if any part of what I am saying here makes sense to you.

anita

Dear aVoid:

“The book surrounds the author’s belief that ‘the world is best served when individuals act entirely in their own rational self-interest‘”- society is best served when individuals act for the benefit of all.

anita