Stoicism - PART 12 Virtue - Justice

I've saved the best for last! This is a concept that alot more people are familiar with under multiple contexts. Let's simply define Justice as "Doing the right thing". Justice is in some way the value that feeds all other values, there is no point in being brave, moderating yourself and having knowledge if you don't act righteously.

In the introduction of this entry series I talked about the complexity behind our ideas of good and bad, I will not try to define these as they are different for each of us. Our upbringing and circumstances contribute to define our morals and definitions of good and evil, but it is our responsibility to acquire knowledge that will help us shape our ideas that we associate as just. I won't sit here and tell you what you need to do or not do, that is up to you and it's your job to do the best you can to act just and fight for what you consider fair.

 

Justice shouldn't be something that we may or may not practice, it should be our duty as humans and part of a society to do it.  What are you doing to make the world you live in a more fair one? Are you offering support to those who need it? Think about what you can do to help them, be brave and speak up when you believe something is unjust. 

-Roberto

Stoicism - PART 11 Virtue - Temperance

 There's no doubt that this concept resonates with me, and I've touched base on it on my first and second entry. This concept is simple but as important as the rest of the values derived from Virtue. I defined courage in my last entry as almost a synonym to bravery and resilience, but temperance is needed to balance these values as an excess in bravery will cause us to become reckless. We don't want to act cowardly either, we need to limit ourselves and use reason before acting, this is where wisdom comes in. 

You can start to see how these concepts overlap each other and how they connect to create a system that allows us to act virtuously. 

Of course, pleasures are an important point to discuss here. Stoic philosophy does not avoid pleasures, you are free to have pleasures as long as you practice them moderately and don't prevent you from reaching your goals and improving yourself. We don't want to live a life without doing the things we like, after all. 

Remember, temperance is all about balance! Don't feel discouraged if you fail to moderate yourself, try again until you can find the middle ground between your goals and pleasures.

-Roberto

Stoicism - PART 10 Virtue - Courage

We all experience different sorts of hardships throughout our lives, whether these are relatively insignificant or considered by most to be flat out terrible, we often compare our hardships with those of others. Sometimes we see that other people complain over something that may sound dumb or meaningless to us, other times we see that other people struggle a lot more than us. If we compare our personal hardships, we'll never agree on what's more important or how we should feel about certain events. Use other people's hardships as knowledge and view them as challenges that may potentially be presented to you, and think about what you can do to prevent it or solve it. 

Don't undermine other people's struggles based on your own experience, think about the reaction you are giving to the person and how you would feel if you got the same response when sharing one of your own struggles. After applying this, take on your own struggles and avoid comparing how worse or better your situation is compared to others, otherwise it will lead to frustration and/or other negative emotions. Use acquired wisdom, if any, to help you make important decisions or actions that will help you deal with an obstacle.

If you ever feel like life has thrown too much at you, remember the real unlucky ones are those that rarely experience hardship. They don't know the satisfaction of overcoming a challenge, they don't know how capable they are of solving problems  and may never be able to show the world what they're made of. 

The Legend Of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time is a game that takes place in a world created by three gods, which represent Power, Wisdom and Courage.

The protagonist, Link, possesses the godly artifact that represents courage. When I played this game as a child, I didn't think much of how important this concept was for the game as a whole. Link is summoned as a 10-11 year old by a forest entity and is told that he is a child of prophecy, destined to save the world from evil. I know, this isn't a very original concept at first glance. However, Link has to leave his home in the forest and travel across the landscape to stop the forces of evil. Once it seems this is completed, the antagonist gains the upper hand and Link is forced to sleep for 7 years until he is strong enough to fight the villain. After traveling the landscape again as an apparent adult and seeing those friendships and people he helped as a child pass away and become spirits you can't help thinking about everything Link loses in order to save his world. At the end, Link is taken back to the past to relive his childhood but without those that helped him in his journey. An innocent boy that sacrificed his childhood and fought to the very end despite losing everyone he knew and loved, a dark example of courage but one that I look up to.

Show the world what you're made of, don't back down when life gets hard and know that you will need to make sacrifices, so be ready for them. 

-Roberto

Stoicism - PART 9 Virtue - Wisdom

 Wisdom was viewed very highly by the Stoics, it's a key part of our continuous self-improvement process. I already talked a bit about knowledge in the previous entry and mentioned that we always need to keep an open mind. I want to talk about the value of knowledge, because some knowledge is more valuable and we must learn to identify where to find it. Yes, we have countless information at our disposal, and I said that we must be open to hearing contrary ideas, but we must make sure that we are dedicating our time to acquire knowledge that will be useful for your development and wellbeing as well as those around you. Make sure your daily activities include at least one task that will add to your wisdom and will help you get to where you want to be. 

Every person you've ever met has had different experiences and has acquired different perspectives and potential wisdom, remember there are many others and only one of you! This means that you are better off listening and observing more than talking, so make sure to let others express themselves freely!

In order to feel fulfillment it is necessary that we keep learning and training our bodies and mind, set short term goals and prize yourself for reaching them. Make sure you're setting new goals as soon as you reach your current ones and give yourself a break when you need to. There's no rush and no point in feeling regret for not developing this in the past, it's never too late to learn and contribute to your overall happiness.

-Roberto

Stoicism - PART 8 Virtue - Introduction

 I'm back! As promised, I will be taking on a five-part analysis of the Stoic concept of Virtue. This is arguably the most developed and studied concept  by the Stoics, as it allows us to determine morals and ethics in what I consider to be the most objective way. Our cultures and backgrounds influence our morality and thoughts on different social and political issues and this will most likely not change after covering these concepts, however our objective will be to view these issues in a way that we can empathize or at least understand contrary beliefs and ideas. This is important now more than ever since we are all digitally connected and exposed to unlimited information in our pockets, so sharing ideas and beliefs has never been more efficient and effective. 

Understanding virtue and it's components should help us with identifying our thought process and understanding how and why we have an opinion on certain things, whether these are controversial or not. This is important because we must always question our thoughts and opinions by comparing them to different perspectives and being open to ideas that seem to be against your own, only then will you be able to act just. Sadly, social media has played a big role in separating ideologies and dividing people by using algorithms that increase the exposure of news/posts that are aligned with a specific person's political or social beliefs. Most people view news and events solely through social media, this creates a biased and distorted view of reality and prevents us from seeing the truth. We won't reach absolute truth on many things, but the closer we are, the more likely it'll be for us to act virtuously. It's important that we study and view events from different approaches, as wrong as you may believe an idea to be, you should always take it as an opportunity to listen and learn from it instead of dismissing it. In fact, the more you empathize and understand other points of view, the stronger and wiser your opinion becomes since you've evaluated more scenarios and possibilities than others.

I believe we must always question our opinions and doubt our thoughts, however I also believe that we mustn't hesitate when it is time to act or make a decision based on these ideas. This may seem counterintuitive, but bear with me. If you believe in something, fight for it. Fight for everything that you believe will improve or help yourself or those around you, but always stop to listen to those who oppose you. This doesn't mean you'll change your mind, but you will show the deserved respect to those who are also fighting for their version of justice or improving the lives of those around us. Search for information from sources that you don't usually consume, look for the strongest arguments that oppose yours, compare your ideas with them and identify whether you need to reconsider any of your views or opinions. There should be no shame in changing your mind, be ashamed of staying ignorant and dismissive because this will keep you from being the best version of yourself. 

I know, I've talked mostly about the nature of our ideas and biases, but I strongly believe that these themes are highly relevant in our current time and can be potentially solved by understanding virtue. They will continue to divide us further unless we are able to understand these phenomenons, hopefully after stressing the impact and importance of these issues we are able to more easily grasp the concepts that define Virtue according to the Stoics. These are Courage, Wisdom, Temperance and Justice.

Stoicism - PART 7 Time Management

In my previous entry I talked a bit about the actions I am taking to establish a set schedule and improving on it as I identify how I can reorder my activities and responsibilities more efficiently, there's no question that the best way of doing so is by trial and error. I pointed out that once we have a set plan for our daily routine it is important that we stick to it, even if we identify a possible improvement throughout the course of the day, this is not only for us to avoid distracting ourselves from the task in hand, but to develop our discipline and doing what we say we are going to do. I can sit and plan out a routine attempting to perfect it for hours but if I don't end up following it there is no guarantee that the time I spent working on it will be of any use. 

I also did my best to express how important it is to use our time wisely, because it is definitely our most valuable non-renewable resource that we've been given. It's important that our actions are executed in a manner that we do them as if we had little to no time left. Years can feel like a blink of an eye when we don't have our priorities established appropriately and if this is the case for you then I can assure you that you are in desperate need of analyzing your short-term and long-term goals in order to start improving your time management. This is exactly what I will be doing in this entry and hopefully it will help you on your own journey of self-improvement.

Our goal here will be to set a routine that will guarantee that we end each and every day with a sense of satisfaction, in fact we will need to be able to prove to ourselves that what we accomplished during the day is something that ultimately added at least one bit to our personal development and/or goals. This means that every single day you will need to ask yourself what it was that you did today that helped you get a step closer to where you want to be. It sounds challenging, and I'm almost positive that it won't be easy to accomplish consistently. We know that there are factors in play that will be against us and hopefully by now you've read my entries on combatting anxiety and finding motivation, being prepared for those challenges will be key to being able to progress in this part of the process.

There isn't much I can dive into regarding the specifics of our daily tasks, we all have different goals and responsibilities that we will need to integrate into our action plan, and I will try to generalize the thought process of my situation as much as possible so you can apply it according to your circumstances. So, there are two main activities that I will prioritize in my plan, these being my work hours and exercise. I will be creating my schedule around these two main activities that in my current situation are the most important to reach my goals. (You don't need to follow the same priorities)

The reasons behind these priorities are due to my goal of career growth and paying off my credit debt by the end of the year. Secondly, I have a long-term goal of keeping myself physically fit as this has proven to be key in my overall energy, motivation and mood. Below is a simplified example of what your schedule can end up looking like, for the sake of simplicity I've left out additional activities such as reading, playing soccer and family time:

Time	Sun	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat
7-8 AM	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast	Breakfast
8-9 AM		Portuguese	Portuguese		Portuguese	Portuguese
9-12:30 PM		Work	Work		Work	Work	Work
12:30-7:00 PM	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch	Lunch
1:30-7 PM		Work shift	Work shift		Work shift	Work shift	Work shift
7-7:30 PM	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner	Dinner
7:30-9 PM	Gym/Jog	Gym/Jog	Gym/Jog	Gym/Jog	Gym/Jog	Gym/Jog	Gym/Jog
9-9:30 PM	Hygiene	Hygiene	Hygiene	Hygiene	Hygiene	Hygiene	Hygiene

I've pointed out several times how important it is that we follow the schedule we planned, but there are bound to be exceptions like social gatherings and special occasions. We don't want to keep ourselves from enjoying life as it ultimately beats the purpose of what we are trying to accomplish here, which is a state of wellbeing and continuous improvement. We must find a balance that allows us to maintain a level of discipline in order to make the most out of every day, this is where we will need to be proactive and quickly identify what changes can be made to further improve our productivity and overall wellbeing. Mistakes will surely be made, potentially even requiring us to completely reorder our routine, but we mustn't feel discouraged, every step of the way is a lesson learned and will help us get to where we want to be. 

Think of your daily tasks as a ball that you need to push up a mountain. When you fail to do a specific task, the ball rolls a bit back and it will require a bit more work to get it back to where it was, but as you get the ball up that mountain every single day it will become easier and easier, until eventually that mountain is no longer big enough for you. That's what will happen when you reach one of your set goals, and once you do you should immediately look for a bigger mountain, or you will quickly lose strength that you gained from all of that pushing! The more consistent we become the easier it will be to overcome even the highest of mountains, be patient and believe in yourself. 

See ya!

Stoicism - PART 6 Overcoming Anxiety

 A couple of days ago, as I was going through Marcus Arelius' "Meditations", I realized something that caught my attention. Generally, we view Stoics as people who are able to conquer their emotions and are, in a nutshell, mentally invincible. That being said, Marcus Aurelius mentions anxiety in his quotes more times than you would probably imagine. There's no question that he, as any normal human, suffered from anxiety quite often. (I mean, he was running the biggest empire in the world at the time!)

I also realized that I didn't have a plan or anything to reduce anxiety even though I am often highly susceptible to it. I've gone through the quotes that Meditations has to offer so we can establish a clear path that will potentially prepare us to reduce or even eliminate anxiety from creeping up to us while we go through our daily activities. Before we continue I do want to note that this is a personal analysis and I will be tackling this from a specific perspective according to my situation, I'm not a psychologist so please take this information with a grain of salt.

So, now that that's out of the way, I want to describe where I believe my anxiety and uneasiness feelings come from. I've realized that I am often mentally displaced when doing a specific task, I mean that I will suddenly lose concentration of what I'm doing and begin to think about what I will be doing afterwards, or even what I did before I started the task. For example, if I have an important meeting or need to speak in front of a group of people after completing my current activity, I regularly disconnect completely from the task at hand and begin to hastily recap whatever it is I'm going to be presenting or sharing later that day. It's not hard to figure out that this negatively affects both your current task/activity and the one that your mind is desperately overthinking. The way to prevent this? Focus completely on the task at hand, if you start to deviate due to this reason, reassure yourself that you are prepared to share your thoughts and information in an effective manner, don't try to change what you've already planned at the last minute, it rarely goes well. (Considering that you properly prepared of course! Otherwise, you should analyze your time management and establish priorities accordingly.)

Another way that anxiety has manifested in my life is that I suddenly start to think about what I'd rather be doing at any given time. If I'm spending time with loved ones or family, I'll question myself as to whether I should be studying or recapping information for a meeting, or even a mundane task like doing laundry instead. This is quite tricky at times because occasionally, you will realize that you could have done things differently and it would've given you a better result. Again, focus on the task at hand, if you already scheduled your activities for that day make sure to stick to your plan. There will be time to think about priorities and managing your times later, during your personal free time or at the end of your day. Yes, maybe you could have dedicated more hours to studying, but ultimately due to the anxiety that was created, the valuable time you are dedicating to your family at that moment will be less rewarding or engaging. You always want to get the most out of your time, there will be a moment for you to re-plan, but the time lost will never be recovered. I cannot stress enough how important it is to value and use your limited time here as effectively as possible, not solely because you will be more productive but because those memories, knowledge and engagement will help you reach the maximum amount of motivation and overall positive energy that will make your time here as pleasant as can be!

In conclusion, anxiety is not just unpleasant but failing to address it will cause you to degrade or even lose quality time, knowledge and cherished memories. I decided to keep a journal where I can plan my day, create routines and log notes that will help me evaluate and further improve my schedule structure and make the most out of my time. You can use digital tools to help you with this, but I personally prefer a physical journal that I can carry in my backpack at all times. To finish off this entry I'll leave a few quotes from Epictetus, Seneca and Marcus Aurelius that stood out for me and helped me with this analysis. 

Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens. 

— Epictetus

Man is not worried by real problems so much as by his imagined anxieties about real problems. 

— Epictetus

We are more often frightened than hurt; and we suffer more from imagination than from reality. 

— Seneca

But life is very short and anxious for those who forget the past, neglect the present, and fear the future. 

— Seneca

All you need are these: certainty of judgment in the present moment; action for the common good in the present moment; and an attitude of gratitude in the present moment for anything that comes your way.

 — Marcus Aurelius

If you suffer from more severe anxiety or feel like it is not something you can overcome by yourself, don't hesitate to look for professional help. Here are resources that are more specialized and will help you better understand your situation: https://etherapypro.com/anxiety/

See ya!

Stoicism - PART 5 Seeking Motivation

One of the things I have struggled with over recent years has been lack of motivation. Feeling like you aren't improving or progressing towards your goals is never a fun experience. It's somewhat common for me to wake up some days with no desire to go through my day, so I've taken the step to analyze why I struggle with this and how to handle it. The simple answer is to just do it, there will be bad days and good days and there surely is someone out there who would wish to have the life you're living now. However, this doesn't help much for how we feel. I'm grateful for what I have, but there must be something else that can help with this problem, perhaps even eliminate it completely. It wouldn't be wise to rely solely on external or materialistic things to give us that extra boost when times are hard.

One of my hobbies is learning history, sometimes I will sit and read history articles or watch documentaries for hours. It's a rather strange interest but I can't stress enough how fascinating it is to me when I find out about things that I never would've imagined happened hundreds of years ago in the other side of the planet. Even more so when I dive deeper into an event that I thought I had a solid understanding of, only to gain a new perspective and completely changing my opinions on a topic. Knowing this, if you asked me if I would rather be able to meet my ancestors or descendants (Theoretically, of course), which one do you think I would choose? This is a question that someone asked me not too long ago, and I didn't hesitate to answer. That answer was meeting my descendants.

What? I just wrote that knowing about the past and our ancestors is fascinating to me, so why did I give that answer?

As it turns out, being a history nerd has taught me something that I hadn't even thought of until after I had that conversation.  I've read about world leaders, military generals and historic figures that have left us with inventions or ideas that we cant even imagine living without in our current time. We seem to view historic figures in either a negative or positive way, this is natural as we tend to view history as a story, with good guys and bad guys and categorize events as either catastrophic or completely positive, this can't be further from the truth. Events and people are complicated, events happen in a chain reaction and are a product of everything that came before. People are not inherently good or bad, we have ideas and take actions according to our understanding of how things work. The one thing that historic figures have in common, whether their reputation is good or bad, is that they left a legacy. They had an impact on the lives of many who came and will come after, they had the courage, skill and motivation to make a change. What could be more valuable than bettering the lives of as many people as possible? 

So here lies the reasoning behind the answer I gave, as much as I would have loved to see ancient greece, the roman empire and ancient egypt, I am more interested in knowing what legacy and impact I will have for those who come after me, whether it's one person or thousands. 

As I reflected on these thoughts, I realized that I had found motivation and an appreciation for whatever it is we are doing now to better ourselves and therefore better the lives of those around us. Perhaps I won't appear in a history book a hundred years from now, but that shouldn't mean that I won't do my best to leave as much for this world as I'm capable of. 

These thoughts surely won't magically provide a lifetime supply of motivation, but perhaps will help you in your day to day life, at least a bit. You may occasionally feel stuck or like you're going backwards from your goal, but know that as long as you are doing what is in your hands to provide value to your loved ones and those around you, feel no shame or frustration as you are already doing more than you can even imagine. Dedicate time to yourself, your thoughts and your body. Valuing yourself as much as everyone else will help you take good care of your physical and mental health, it is your only chance and tool to make the place we live in a better one, which I believe is our purpose in this giant sphere of water and dirt we call home.

See ya! 

-Rob

Stoicism - PART 4 Living in Accordance to Nature

Marcus Aurelius mentions in his texts the concept of "Nature", and writes that we should always strive towards "Living in accordance to nature". But what does this actually mean? Lets establish a clear definition of nature and continue our journey towards understanding and adopting Stoicism. 

Essentially, there are two scopes within this definition that we can look into, starting with the nature of the Universe. The stoic teachings mention that the universal nature is a perfectly arranged system, and is structured in a physically deterministic fashion that is similar, if not identical, to fate. To live in accordance to the nature of the universe, is to accept what is there. We must see our world for what it is and act in alignment with it. Some of us might resent certain aspects of what reality presents to us, but we must learn to accept these events and continue our life by learning from them and never forget to keep moving forward. 

There is a film from my childhood that I recall delivering this message in such a beautiful way, an animated film named "Meet the Robinsons" where the protagonist is able to learn this lesson by sticking to his passion and learning to move on from a dark past. The antagonist, on the other hand, represents a being who is unable to adopt this and clings onto events that have turned him into a negative and bitter person, ultimately depriving his own wellbeing as well as for those around him.

The second scope for "Nature" is Human Nature. As you may be able to deduce, universal nature is defined by circumstances, but human nature is defined mostly by choice. Let's move onto the morality of this concept, what the Stoics define as ethical and our moral obligations as part of a global society. A lot of us may think at some point, that when we willingly negatively affect our health or fail to comply with a responsibility that others may directly or indirectly depend on, we are only hurting ourselves, therefore it is morally acceptable to adopt auto-destructive behaviors or habits. However, we can argue that all actions that may cause any level of self-harm will ultimately negatively affect those around us, as it will in some way shorten or end our ability to fulfill our role as a sibling, a son, a parent, a lover or any productive member of society, our moral obligation is not only to care for others, but to first care for ourselves. This may sound counter-intuitive, but valuing one's health and wellbeing over others will consequently make the lives of those around better as we will be able to use our maximum potential physically and mentally to make our environment the best it can be. 

You may have noticed by now that I am very into referencing media and pop-culture that I have seen throughout my life that I can relate to the teachings of Stoics, and one of the icons that come to mind is one of the world's most known superheroes, Spider-Man. You see, a typical story involving this protagonist will usually include a very popular quote, which you may have heard before "With Great Power, comes great responsibility". 

In a superficial level, this may sound only relatable to those that we consider to have "Power" such as government officials, leaders or any other type of person that we would consider "powerful" or even just influential. What we don't consider is that we all have a level of power in the lives of those around us, we all have the ability to either make the lives of those around us pleasantly easier or painfully difficult. Think about the people that you live with, how many things can you think of that you can do that would make their day easier to go through, or just harder to go through? Think about what the close people in your life can do to make your day or make it a lot harder to deal with, stoicism teaches us to control the emotions coming from the actions that are not under our control, but naturally we are designed to feel and actions will ultimately define our natural emotions throughout our lives. 

What I'm trying to say is that we all have a level of power in our environment, whether we consider it minimal or not we must account for the responsibility that we have to maintain our environment in a positive state, we must fight for what we consider unjust within our circle, and always act according to the wellbeing of the people that are part of our environment. If you've taken the time to read all of this, take a minute to think about the power that you have in your daily life and think about how you can use that power to boost the motivation and overall happiness of those around you, and understand that you have a responsibility as a member of your family, workspace, institution or society in general to make your space a better place.

I know what some of you are thinking, "I'm hardly able to sustain my own emotional wellbeing, now I have to make others feel good too?". On the other hand, some of you may have adopted a personality where you are already doing your best to help others but ultimately feel like it's not actually making you feel happy. Well, I'd like to dedicate my next entry to the method I'm using  in order to find the balance between helping others and helping ourselves in order to find the motivation to fulfill your role as a gear that will make your environment a better place. 

Happy holidays,

-Rob

Stoicism - PART 3 Happiness, Wealth and Success

 My previous entries reflect a very personal version of what I decided to deal with first in order to advance in my journey, thankfully I was able to take a huge leap that would get me going with a lot more confidence towards future challenges. As I sit here writing yet another entry of what have arguably been some of the most life-changing events I've experienced, I can't help but smile and think about everything that had to come together in such a short amount of time for me to radically gain a new perspective of our reality. 

In this entry I'd like to cautiously dive into what post-modern society considers success. Marcus Aurelius wrote: "Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking." And yes, I am going to talk about the relationship that we attribute to "success" and happiness. If you ask an engineering student, a medical student or any individual that is working hard to reach a goal, they will most likely tell you that they are not happy, but they've built the expectation that when they reach their goal they will obtain true happiness, or at least be one step closer to it. Many people think this way, and this thought process can mainly go two ways:

1. The individual reaches that goal, and feels pride and satisfaction, perhaps even a sense of liberty. They soon realize, that reaching that goal will not give them "True happiness" (Assuming that is even possible), this is simply because our minds are built in a way that it always wants to move to the next objective, and once this objective is met, we feel stuck, and unfulfilled, even after obtaining all you ever thought you wanted. 

2. The individual gives up or is placed in a circumstance where they can no longer reach that goal. They will feel regret, desperation, frustration and amotivation. The individual will feel like the universe has conspired against his well-being, he didn't ask for much, and he wasn't even given that. This might take the person years to recover, or even end up being that angry neighbor who just won't let you listen to your favorite song at a totally reasonable volume!

So, how do we prevent this? Well, this ideology is built upon the thought that he who fights and works for what they want, will surely get to where they want to be, and better yet, they will be "Truly happy". As you can deduce, it is based on pure expectations. We work hard, and we expect that work to be rewarded. When this doesn't happen, it feels unfair. Not because universally speaking it is unfair, but because the individual created an expectation that if they tried their best, there was no chance of failure. 

In no way am I trying to discredit important values like ambition and hope, and I don't want to say that hard work never pays off, but I do want to say that if you live your life expecting the world to give you what you think you need because you worked hard for it, you will most likely live a miserable life. Not because life will mostly give you less than what you deserve, but because our brains are also designed to emphasize negative things above positive ones. (Gotta thank evolution for that one) So even if you hypothetically break even with the universe, you will still feel like you had a bad time.

It has become increasingly difficult for younger generations to cope with the feeling of "Underachieving", everywhere in media we are bombarded with stories of success, of "endless opportunities" and motivational "Life coaches" telling us that we are not putting the effort to live a life of "success". Social media plays a big role in the lives of many people now, and our minds are constantly blasted with pictures of 20 year-old millionaires or even acquaintances taking an amazing trip to Europe. For many teenage social media users, living a rich and extravagant lifestyle is the only way they imagine living their adulthood.

Naturally, being exposed so regularly to people that are "living their best life" generates unhealthy expectations. It makes mansions and "Lambo's" seem so common and reachable, and many people know this and have exploited these people's lack of understanding of the real world for personal gain, pyramid schemes are hotter than ever! People can't seem to get enough of those seminars telling them that they guarantee they will be rich, and be rich fast.

The truth is, that wealth is a valuable asset, some of us will have more money than we need, and most of us won't. If you want to increase your chances of being wealthy, there is no doubt that hard work will be required. I see no problem in using most of your energy to accomplish a goal, but know that not everything is under our control, so we must accept that we won't always get what we want just because we think we deserve it. 

Anyways, let's separate happiness from success and wealth. Some of you might roll your eyes after reading the next sentence, but I am a firm believer that "The Real Treasure Was the Friends We Made Along the Way." In other words, we shouldn't be chasing or searching for our happiness as something that we will eventually obtain in our future. If you look around you, you will find many things that make you happy, your pet, your parents, your siblings, your friends, that TV show that you can't wait for the next season to come out, you will find happiness all around you. You don't need to feel miserable just because you're not where you want to be, you can be happy where you stand right now and on the way there. Happiness is not absolute, it is a feeling just like any other, don't hide from feeling happy just because you don't think you deserve it yet. Do not let anybody take away your happiness, because out of all the matter in this seemingly infinite universe, you were given such a tiny yet beautiful consciousness that is completely yours! So do with it what makes you happy, and while you're at it, do your best to make those around you happy as well.

Stoicism - PART 2 Introspective

Part 2: Assessing the situation

It has been a few weeks since I've began to attempt to adopt a stoic way of life, and throughout the following paragraphs I will express with the best of my abilities the events that have challenged me in order to become a better version of myself. This is not in any way a guide on how to be a "Stoic", but rather my experience and inner disputes I've faced in order to develop my current ideology into one that resembles my interpretation of Stoicism.

As the analytical and logic-based individual I consider myself to be, one of the things that I have always struggled with is embracing my emotions and confronting my feelings. A few months ago, I would have not considered one's spiritual self as something that needs to be developed or cared for. (Heck, I might have even said that it's a bunch of nonsense!)

Due to this lack of confrontation, I would usually not raise my hand when I felt something could be managed differently, or when I had a different opinion of a situation than that of my peers. This, naturally, caused both positive and negative energy to be locked in what I will call "The emotions chamber". 

I had no knowledge of the Emotions chamber within me, which kept trapped feelings that I was never able to express, The result: Frustration and an unfulfilling day-to-day life that eventually faded my motivation. 

A couple of months ago, When I began to open myself up to a significant other (In a way that I had never done before with anyone) in one occasion I recall bursting into uncontrollable tears, this was an obvious hint to me that there was something within that needed to be dealt with.

Months prior to that situation I had greatly reduced my tendencies of harmful habits. I knew that this would gradually cause a difficult recovery period and I would need to eventually confront a harsh reality. 

Eventually, during a normal afternoon in my room, I experienced a more intense emotional burst. Memories, frustrations, anger, sadness but also positive feelings that I had failed to embrace went through my head in an intense manner.

It felt like some sort of anxiety or panic attack. Thankfully, I was able to overcome this and I gained a different perspective on the importance of mental health. 

I began to test myself on how I internally respond to comments or situations where me and a loved one are involved, especially when I respond negatively to a situation. I was able to quickly pinpoint the cause of my emotional responses, many of which were a product of a history of physical and psychological abuse. 

Afterwards I quickly realized that whenever I had any minor inconvenience with the people I interact with, I would normally do what I could to prevent any sort of confrontation with the person involved, even if I felt like I needed to express an important disagreement. This behavior was most likely due to the fear of having an exaggerated emotional outburst for a relatively smaller issue, and the fear of hurting those who ultimately meant no harm to begin with.

I will need to practice embracing negative emotional responses, and build confidence that I am mentally strong enough to deal with my feelings in a mature way instead of deciding to bury them within me.

My second task is to speak out on what I think is right, and to understand that it is ok to express discomfort. If necessary, we need to fight for what one considers to be just and rightful and continue to stray away from any form of selfishness.

Stoicism - PART 1 Introduction

The Stoic philosophy proposes that we, to an extent, ignore the part of the world that is out of our control. It suggests that we shall not respond emotionally to situations in which we are placed purely because the universe has decided to be cruel to us, and to instead accept this reality as part of a universal plan intended for our well-being. 

It points out that a Stoic should not be emotionless, but should care only about what is under his control. Throughout the start of my adulthood I have unconsciously attempted to follow a similar life philosophy, though I have struggled with comprehending the difference between controlling and burying my emotions. Ignoring our emotions will eventually catch up to us, some of us will use coping mechanisms like addiction or escapism practices to assist with avoiding certain thoughts.

These coping mechanisms can vary from person to person, and are harder to get rid of the longer you continue with them. Logically, this isn't sustainable if we ever want to be free. Knowing that your decisions and resources are completely yours, only then are you experiencing liberty. Living in addiction is living in a prison.

As you begin this journey to free yourself, you will at the same time be presented with the emotions you once buried and decided to never confront, this is where one's character will begin to be tested. Will you succumb to your previous way of life? Or will you be resilient enough to overcome the demons that will escape the dark prison that you created within yourself?

Indifference can make you undefeatable. It can also turn into apathy, and it will destroy you from the inside out. Not only will it affect you, but everyone around you who values you and expects to be valued by you, because at some point you will not only be indifferent towards negative attacks, but towards acts of love. You will try and fail to feel something for those who cherish you, but at the end of the day they will be placed in the back of the line, behind those demons that you never felt like dealing with.

It is then, when you will realize that you have no choice but to confront what you have been running from, this perhaps will mean that you will need some time to fight, and you will need even more time to heal. Give yourself the time you need to cool down, it won't be easy. It is always good to know that you still have support from the people around you, but this fight will mostly be fought alone. Focus and fight aggressively against whatever is keeping you from being free, because at the end of the day, no one else will be able to confront them but you. 

Hopefully you are able to beat these challenges and we can continue our journey for self-improvement which will include many more difficult tasks. Don't feel discouraged, the sooner you overcome this the better but you must be patient. 

Polaris

Gazing upon the dark night

Lies the castaway

As usual

He covers himself with his prickly quilt,

The only thing, in this cold region

That can give him a glimpse, of what he’s missing.

A painful remedy, one might say

Though what he fears the most, would be so great 

That a slow and painful night, he’d rather pay

Surrounded he is, by night crawlers and a few friendly apes

But who’s to say, only darkness seems to await.

As still as he can, the castaway must stay.

Perhaps, tonight could be the night

That the unfortunate man will be freed from his own mind

But many times, he’s been so close

To finding light, in this endless night. 

The cloudy sky begins to clear

Revealing a stunning, shiny light

The north star, man’s reliable guide 

It's shining bright, in the pitch black sky

In awe, the castaway’s eyes show a crumb of hope,

That the beautiful orb, will take him home

A pair of ghosts, as cold as they can be,

Whisper to his ear, the words you’ll hear:

“Trust not the glittering white, for it will take you to those same nights

Where hope is lost and freedom is scarce

Safe you are in your painful quilt 

You’ll slowly bleed, but soon you’ll find

That what they cherish, are just empty lies”

Castaway, you hopeless warrior

Why must you doubt the promised land?

Where men are free, and shine as bright

As that same star, that portrays life

In a moment of great might,

The man decides, it is tonight.

Slowly, the quilt is lifted, the castaway cries

As the painful scars of that barbed blanket

Which felt like silk to the untrained mind

Show their true extent, of hellish spite.

Insecure, the man stood up, 

And decided to leave where he grew up

As the man walked towards a new life

Not once, did he look behind

Not a day had passed, since he took this journey

Past a cabin, the man walked grinning,

To his surprise, there were two sisters,

That greeted him, and offered beverage.

As he approached the cabin door,

The woman gifts what he never thought,

A warm blanket, of the softest kind,

“Oh, what was I doing all this time?!”

As he moved on, the sky would cheer,

To the man that life, had given him tears.

The man gazed up, towards the star that’s worth

What the richest kings, would pay for rebirth.

Happily, the castaway began to run,

To a journey, that has just begun. 

Polaris, oh if you knew!

What you’ve accomplished 

You’d feel great too!