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Written by Jason, Doctor of Meta-Physics
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Stoicism, scary though? Hardly! Devoid of all emotion, wrong again! So what is it then? What does stoic, in it's truest form, really mean? Here's an example!
If you've read my articles on this site before you may recall my first ever post, where I mentioned being a True and Pure Stoic, along the lines of Marcus Aurelius. I didn't go into much more detail then but I intend to here. I will also open up some and be completely honest and blunt. I will be there example here so some background is required.
About 2 years ago, both me and my best friend had near death experiences. My best friend flipped his car into the icy cold creek while it was snowing outside. He had a decently bad case of hypothermia but of course he survived! Then, the next week I had a near death experience. I went in for an MRI and when they shot me up w/ a certain contrast I stopped breathing. The same team that saved my best friends life the week before saved my life that day (and in both cases they thought we were goners)!
Well of course you can figure out the obvious. I survived and so did he! We both learned some things that month...and we both re-evaluated how we look at the world (while we are both faithful l, practicing Christians, we drew closer to the God we believe in and changed our philosophies on life in general some) It was that month that I became a stoic, although it took some time to realize thats what I was, I knew though that something had changed.
So here I am, 2 years to the month later, with a potentially life threatening problem on the horizon that involves some of the same situation. I will be going in next week for another MRI (first one since I almost died) and the doctors office said they NEED to use a contrast and can't guarantee it will be free of the substance that almost killed me.
So the reality of this situation is this, I may be dead in one weeks time. If I don't get this MRI I can't get my nerve blocks. If I don't get my nerve blocks I will most likely loose my medical insurance and disability benefits which is not an option for me right now.
So many of you may imagine I would be scared and or mad. Well your wrong. I am neither. The only thing I am is maybe somewhat apprehensive about getting this over with. I am at peace with these facts. They are what they are. I can't change the situation per say. I can attempt to not have the contrast, which I am working on. Yet that won't change the fact that I need this MRI etc.
This pure stoic attitude is what developed after the near death experiences my best friends and I had. We can't change what happened, sometimes we are lucky, or blessed or privileged enough or able to, what ever term you wish to use, influence any given situation to our benefit. Yet the situation and the outcome are what they are. That is what can NOT be changed. Just as truth is truth and a lie is a lie. All things are what they are. Its how it is.
If we can accept this simple yet profoundly perplexing fact, we can be at peace with so many more situations then before. We can look death in the face and be fine. We can go have people lash out at us yet not loose our composure.
If we can pause for a moment and look at any given situation through someone else's eyes we can then at the very least get a glimpse of where they are coming from and that can be the key to understanding why they did something. While that won't change what happened, if you can grasp that understanding it can make the difference in how you handle the situation which in turn can give you the upper hand.
Many people in this day and age seem to think stoicism means completely lacking emotion of any kind. On the contrary it simply means that you don't allow your emotions to influence your actions, or at least you try not to. It means you try to let patience and reason guide you. It means you try to be balanced in you thoughts and your actions.
As far as I am concerned this can lead you to a better, more full filling life all around
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