Who was Epictetus and What does his Philosophy Teach us?

 

Epictetus was a Greek Stoic Philosopher, born as a Slave in 50 A.D., The name Epictetus in Greek simply Translates to "Gained" or "Acquired". Epictetus gained an interest in Philosophy early in Life. With permission from his master, he began attending the Lectures on Stoic Philosophy from Gaius Musonius Rufus

Epictetus was one of the founding fathers of Stoic School of thought. There are no notable works published by Epictetus himself, but of his famous disciple Arrian who used to attend Epictetus' Lectures and his notes were documented and later Published as "Discourses of Epictetus".

Epictetus' Philosophy revolved around a very important quality everyone needs in all walks of Life, that is Resilience.

Epictetus Says " Our First task in Life is to identify and distinguish between what is upto us and what is not upto us " 

In any event, in all walks of life, there are bound to be uncertainties, difficulties and challenges. To deal with such events it is imperative to be resilient, It is crucial that we understand the event completely and design our response rationally and not react impulsively. Easier said than done!

Building Resilience is a continuous improvement process. You have to constantly examine yourself in adversities. That's how you evolve as a person. That's how you develop your character.

In Life, Pain is inevitable, suffering is optional. We always have a choice to respond. You have the Power to Choose.

This Philosophy resonates with the Serenity Prayer as well - " God, Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, Have courage to change the things I can, and have the wisdom to know the difference" 

Accept whatever life throws at you and use it as fuel for the fire that burns within you. Use it as fuel to propel your forward. Your Life experiences are not what happen to you, but what you make out of it.

Acknowledge and accept your mistakes, your situations, be humble, because that is the first step you take towards growth. 

In negative situations, you have a choice to either play victim, grow bitter and resentful with each passing day or accept it and move forward with determination to change the situation. Ofcourse this isn't easy, you have to build yourself up from the bottom little by little, day after day.

Accept that failures and delays can be frustrating, but as you are going through it, you are also growing through it, building a resilient mind along the way. We tend to focus too much on the outcome and not on the process that can get us there.

A resilient person knows that they might fail and things might not turn out as they planned, but they have the courage and wisdom to accept failures, setbacks, delays  and try again with the lessons learnt. Resilient person learns from past without dwelling upon it and re-living the trauma. 

Anytime you catch yourself ruminating, do not force yourself to look the other way, be compassionate towards what you are feeling, accept yourself as you are, in whatever situation you are. Always know that Life is a journey and events are just stops along the way, adversities are potholes and obstacles on the road, not the life itself.

Suggested Books: - 

Ego is the Enemy  - Ryan Holiday

Obstacle is the Way - Ryan Holiday 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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