Big Idea Daily | Discourses
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by Epictetus |
“Bearing all this in mind, welcome present circumstances and accept the things whose time has arrived. Be happy when you find that doctrines you have learned and analyzed are being tested by real events.”EPICTETUS |
BIG IDEA
Hercules w/out Challenges = Rolling Over, Back to Sleep
FROM THE BOOK“What would have become of Hercules, do you think, if there had been no lion, hydra, stag or boar? — and no savage criminals to rid the world of?
What would he have done in the absence of such challenges? Obviously he would have just rolled over in bed and gone back to sleep. So by snoring his life away in luxury and comfort he never would have developed into the mighty Hercules. And even if he had, what good would it have done him? What would have been the use of those arms, that physique, and that noble soul, without crises or conditions to stir him into action?”
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Brian's Notes
Well that’s a good question.
What would have become of Hercules if he never faced any of his challenges? No hydra. No lion. No stag. No boar. No Hercules.
Epictetus tells us that without these and his other challenges, our mighty Hercules would have had NOTHING to do and would have just rolled over in bed and gone back to sleep. (Hah!!)
He NEEDED those challenges to develop his noble soul. And, of course, SO DO WE.
Knowing this, why do we resist and complain about every challenge?
Epictetus tells us the wise person doesn’t. The wise ones scream “BRING IT ON!” to their challenges, *knowing* that their INFINITE (!) potential exists on the other side of whatever is currently freaking them out at the moment.
Cultivating that sense of presence, calm and courage in the midst of an engaged life is, essentially, what this book is all about.
P.S. Here’s another way Epictetus puts it (he’s super funny/feisty with his students—challenging them to actually APPLY the wisdom he’s teaching them): “If you didn’t learn these things in order to demonstrate them in practice, what did you learn them for?
I suppose there might be some who are sitting here losing patience and thinking, ‘Why don’t I get to face the kind of challenge he did? I am growing old in a corner, when I could be winning a crown at Olympia! When will I be nominated for a similar trial?’
This is the attitude that all of you should adopt. There are gladiators at Rome who get frustrated if they are not called out and matched with an opponent, all the while begging God and their own supervisors to be allowed to do battle one-on-one. None of you here shows anything like the same mettle. Which is why I would like to escape to Rome to see my favorite wrestler in action, he, at least, puts policy into practice.”
P.P.S. In the last Note I did on Iconoclast, we talked about how important it is to calm your amygdala and not let fear drive the show if you want to make a significant difference in the world (and/or if you want to live a happy life).
The key way to do that? What cognitive scientists and therapists call “cognitive reappraisal.” The key source of how to reappraise things? Stoic philosophy. (Recall Epictetus’s influence on Albert Ellis, et al.)
By simply shifting from “OMG! Why is this happening to me?!” to “Nice, calm, deep breath. Hmmmm… Awesome. Challenge. This is good. Let’s put all this stuff we’ve been studying into practice. How can I bring my best self to this situation and get a little stronger by meeting this challenge head on? OK. Time to do that. Let’s go!” we’re mastering the art of living with virtue and actualizing our potential.
Remember: If you didn’t learn these things in order to demonstrate them in practice, what did you learn them for?
Big Ideas
01: HERCULES W/OUT CHALLENGES
02: WANT SOMETHING GREAT?
03: THE GOOD, THE BAD
04: IMPRESSIONS
05: AVOID GRIME
“What else is freedom but the power to live our life the way we want?”EPICTETUS |
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