Do you ever feel like life is happening to you and that you're at the whim of circumstances?

What would it feel like if you could take what life hands you and say Thank you, sir.

May I have another?

In this week's episode, I'm going to be reading another chapter from my book, stoicism 1 0 1, where I write about dealing with external events.

Hello, friends.

My name is Erick Cloward, and welcome to the Stoic Coffee Break.

Stoic Coffee Break is a weekly podcast where I take aspects of stoicism and do my best to break them down to the most important points.

I share different ideas from modern philosophy and neuroscience and psychology, as well as my own experiences in the hope that you can learn something from them all within the space of a coffee break.

This week's episode is called Freedom from External Events, embracing the Power Within.

So as I've mentioned before on this podcast, I finished up a book this last year and launched it in February.

It's called Stoicism 101 .

It's, I reached out to my publisher to see if I would be able to share some of the chapters with you, and they gave me three that I could, so this is the second one.

And like I said, today's episode is all about freedom from external events.

So let's get started.

Look within for within is a wellspring of virtue, which will not cease flowing if you cease not from digging.

Marcus Aurelius In the pursuit of tranquility and virtue, Stoic philosophy offers a powerful f.

Freedom from external events.

Stoicism teaches the true piece comes not from controlling the external world, but from mastering one's reaction to it.

Stoicism empowers individuals to achieve freedom from external events by cultivating inner strength and resilience, stoic principles of inner freedom.

A core principle of stoic philosophy is the distinction between what is within one's control and what is not.

The stoics asserted that a person's thoughts, beliefs, and reactions are within their own power, while external events ranging from the weather to the actions of others are beyond their direct control.

Epictetus, one of the key stoic thinkers, succinctly encapsulates this in his inion.

Some things are in our control and others are not.

By focusing on the former and detaching from the latter stokes maintain equanimity in the face of life's unpredictability.

Mastering responses to external events.

Stoicism teaches the freedom, comes from the mastery of one's responses to external events.

This mastery involves reshaping one's perceptions and judgements, which are often the real sources of distress.

Roman Emperor philosopher Markelius advises and his meditations, if you are distressed by anything external, the pain is not due to the thing itself, but your estimate of it, and this, you have the power to revoke at any moment.

By changing your internal responses, you not only ease your suffering, but also reclaim your freedom, the dichotomy of control.

A key concept in stoicism is the dichotomy of control, which advises a person to accept whatever they cannot change while striving to influence what they can.

This principle is a practical approach to living.

It encourages focusing on personal effort and ethics rather than the outcomes which are often unpredictable and influenced by external factors.

This mindset not only reduces anxiety and frustration, but also fosters a sense of serenity and empowerment.

As Epictetus succinctly explains, suffering arises from trying to control what is uncontrollable or from neglecting what is within our power.

The stoics understood that most of a person's negative emotions occur because of their perspective on external uncontrollable events.

Whether your emotions are in response to, for example, others' opinions of you, a stock market loss or a natural disaster, the stoics recognize that getting angrier stressed over situations outside of your control often leads to poor choices and can make the situation worse.

As Markelius observes, how much more grievous are the consequences of anger than the causes of it ammo fti, the stoic concept of amor fti to loved one's fate is central to the stoic idea of freedom from external events rather than reluctantly accepting what happens in life, the stoics propose that people should learn to love and appreciate all the challenges their life sends their way.

They believe that rather than wasting time and energy and disturbing ones inner are calm by resisting the events of life, it's better to cultivate a perspective that everything external in life is an opportunity to practice virtue.

Historical examples of stoic freedom, stoic freedom can be seen throughout history in many ways, like the follow.

Cato, the younger known for his unwavering, stoic virtue, Cato, the younger exhibited remarkable resilience and independence in the face of political turmoil during the final days of the Roman Republic.

His commitment to stoic principles allowed him to maintain his integrity and freedom even as external events spiraled beyond his control.

James Stockdale, an American Vice Admiral and Aviator Stockdale, was a prisoner of war for over seven years during the Vietnam War.

He credits stoic philosophy, particularly the teachings of Titus with giving him the inner strength to endure captivity and torture without breaking his survival.

And leadership under such extreme conditions.

Demonstrate how stoic wisdom can provide profound resilience, modern application of stoic freedom in today's fast pace and often volatile world.

The stoic practice of distinguishing between the controllable and the uncontrollable aspects of life is more relevant than ever.

For individuals facing challenges at work, impersonal relationships, or in broader societal issues, stoicism offers a way to navigate stress and adversity with grace.

By focusing on your internal reactions and maintaining your ethical standards, you can achieve a form of freedom that external circumstances cannot diminish.

The stoic path to freedom from external events is not about.

Indifference, but about active engagement with the world without being dominated by it.

It involves a deep transformation of your perspective where peace is derived not from external conditions, but from a well fortified inner life.

As epic tus puts it, we not externals are the master of our judgments.

In embracing stoic freedom, you find not only freedom, but also the resilience to live your life with purpose and dignity, no matter what challenges you face.

So that's the end of the chapter, but I wanted to also talk a little bit about it.

So when I first started studying stoicism, this was one I did that really hit me hard.

I began to become more aware of how I let out outside.

Things have such an outsized impact on the way that I viewed things when I would start to feel annoyed or frustrated by something.

I would take a moment to see if I could be a little more objective.

I would try to separate what was fact and what were my feelings and thoughts about the facts.

That little pause helped me to see just a little more clearly what was under my control and what was not.

By understanding what you can control and letting go of what is not under your control, you're not giving up, you're being wise.

Continuing to try and change things that you can't, is futile and often makes the situation worse.

Slowing down, weighing your options and taking a step in the right direction will at the very least, help help you make progress and may even lead you to the right path.

And that's the end of this week's Stoic Coffee break.

As always, be kind to yourself, be kind to others, and thanks for listening.

Also, if you haven't purchased my book, Stoicism 101, I would really appreciate if you would, you can find out more information about it on my website@stoic.coffee.

Also, if you're not following me on social media, I would really appreciate it if you give me a follow.

You can find me on Instagram and threads at Stoic Coffee and Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok and all of the others @StoicCoffee, all one word.

Thanks again for listening.