Looking at the mess our world seems to be in right now, I could throw my arms up in the air, then tear out my hair, followed by crawling into a hole, and stay there.
I won’t do any of those things, no matter how tempting some of them may be, in particular the final one. If that hole had coffee available, and a blanket, lovely. But life requires things to happen, my volunteer roles, my family roles, my roles as a dog owner, these require things from me.
I am able to play my roles in these things, and I know what I need to do with each of them. I am certainly saddened by many of the things going down right now, the people getting sick, and dying. But there is not a thing I can do to stop those things from happening. I am keeping the required distance from others, and if I were to become sick, I would get tested.
My best things to do every day, are to care for myself, my loved ones, and my community, as and when I can. Railing against the government will not solve any of the problems around the world, it will only upset me, perhaps, and still those problems will be there. But being in ignorance of these global things is not the way to go either.
Knowing what is going on now, and remembering it when time comes to vote, and voting accordingly, that is certainly something within my possible actions. Caring about other people who are hurting, and looking for actual ways I can help, that is within my possible actions too.
Life, at its best, is a combination of stepping away and stepping forward. And understanding when to do each is my Stoic duty, to myself, and to others. I aim to live my best life possible, doing the best things possible. And by ‘best’ I mean in a global sense, not a greedy (all for me, only) sense.
I want good, not gold.
My Stoic Life 