Control and Response
To paraphrase two American heroes:
“What a month…huh?”
“Lemon, it’s February.”
Last week, a fellow runner asked what others were doing to better themselves during the pandemic.
Her query was fitness-centric, and it initially saddened me. The pandemic’s slow crawl — and my commitment to maintaining my family’s mental health — has worn my soul down to a nub, and I cannot remember the last time I ever ran. Pounding pavement seems trivial compared to not going insane.
But I did muster an answer. Even if I’m not exercising much, there is one thing I’ve done to better at least my mental health: I recommended Stoicism as my path towards improvement.
For the uninitiated, Stoicism is a school of ancient Greek philosophy, dating to 3rd century B.C.E. Three disciplines make up its foundation:
Perception: how we observe & interpret the world around us
Action: decisions in reaction to our perceptions which end-goals in mind
Will: accepting perception & distilling action to clarify what we can change
For those lacking time to deep-dive into dialogues & texts, the TL;DR for Stoicism boils down to the following:
You cannot control what happens to you
But you can control how you respond
For example, perception indicates your neighbor just bought an expensive new car, while you are drowning with debts. Action permits you to disregard your neighbor (their behavior is outside of your control) and your past (what’s done is done), focusing on the problem at-hand (what to do with your situation). What’s left (how you handle your debt, if at all) is within your will to control.
Sometimes my kids suffer late-day slights, such as slipping off the playset swing or dropping candy in the dirt. They’ll grow sad and lament that it’s the worst day ever, even if the day ahead of that one moment was otherwise perfect. I alway tell them, “It’s never too late to start your day.” Acknowledge that things suck, then start now with making things better.
Back to running… It sucks I’ve lost my conditioning, that I’ve gained weight, a combination that has made me slower, in turn discouraging me further from getting outside. When I am mindful enough to focus on it, Stoicism always reminds me that being present is what fixes all ailments, and that I can restart whenever I like, including now.
So today I’ll finally go for a run.
Further Reading
The easiest way to get into Stoicism is thru Ryan Holiday’s books. They tend to overlap in subjects, but The Obstacle is the Way is a great place to start. For those into the format of daily devotionals & reflection, I also recommend The Daily Stoic.
Fun Stuff
Besides eating my feelings, I’m still watching a bunch of TV:
WandaVision: it remains great, and today’s episode made another Fantastic Four MCU reference. When combined with an oh-so-satisfying call-out to X-Men, both my all-time favorite comic book titles, I’m squeeing big-time this morning. (A-)
Watchmen (2019): I’d heard amazing things about this HBO series, especially from people who aren’t big comic book fanboys like myself. I was finally able to binge it last week, and it was so much fun! Although Jeremy Iron’s portrayal of Ozymandias was over-the-top, watching the show weave together old & new mythology was very satisfying. Shout-out to evil Bob Benson! (A+)
My kid have the best brains:
Penelope: “Do you like lemons?”
Zachary: “Yes, I love sour stuff.”
Penelope: “Do you like limes?”
Zachary: “No.”
Me: “Wait, you just said you like sour stuff...and limes are sour!”
Zachary: “Yeah...but they’re rip-offs of lemons.”