The Stoic Gym - August 2020

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How do we react when unexpected things—such as a job loss or a health problem—happen to us? How do we react to predictable daily events? We often react to events in a way that causes more misery. Many people get depressed by they way they habitually react to things. We are in the predicament we are in because we misinterpret the world around us. We try to control what we cannot and fail to control what we can. The basic conclusion of Stoicism is that the world around us—the externals—has nothing to do with our happiness or otherwise. It all depends on how we interpret the impressions. Yet what is simple in theory is not so simple in practice. When we face a difficult situation, we are confused. We are not sure how to react. So it is always good to think about different challenges we may potentially face in our daily life and be prepared for them. It helps us to develop a Stoic perspective. That’s the focus of the current issue. Our contributing editors in this issue tackle a number of challenges: • What is the Stoic art of living? (Jonas Salzgeber) • How would a Stoic cope with life’s challenges? (Marc Epsen) • Can a Stoic be political? (Kai Whiting) • Should a Stoic consider everything that comes their way useful? (Sharon Lebell) • How do we deal with our children’s frustrations the Stoic way? (Meredith Kunz) • What is Stoic courage? • How do we deal with our wavering mind? (Seneca) The articles in this issue provide the Stoic perspective to get you started.