doing good – My Stoic Life

Stoic Life As Lived

Living my life now as a Stoic is a freeing thing in some ways, but there are constrains and confusion, particularly when my personal knowledge of what actually being a Stoic actually means, in regards to a variety of situations.

Do the best thing, the wisest thing, ok tick. Don’t be a glutton hmm yeah, but what if… at the moment my bathroom scales know a lot about that one, as does my calendar on my phone. I’m pretty sure that High Tea I recently attended would have troubled any wannabe Stoic!

But when invited to an event by famy members, when it’s being paid for by them, as a Christmas present, what should you do? Say thank you, attend, and enjoy myself, that’s what I did. And to keep myself honest, and as a reminder of results of certain actions, I weighed myself first thing in the morning the next say, even or especially knowing that weigh in was going to give me a higher number than I wanted …

The truth is not a thing to hide from, but a thing to face up to, and deal with as appropriate and necessary!

So I will endeavour to dine wisely, eating enough to meet yhe needs of my body, but ignoring what my greedy taste buds may clamour for! Healthy nutritious food is my usual way anyway, and it’s what the way I’ll stick to, for sure.

Moderation and wisdom will assist me here, justice and courage, how might they come into it? Thinking on those unable to get sufficient nutrition, due to a variety of reasons whether war, or the fact of being poor, I know I have enough to assist there, in a variety of ways.

Donating money to relevant causes is not unknown to me, and giving to strangers also gas happened in the past, and will continue to do so in the future. Giving wisely can mean a variety of different things, and while I’m aware of the various reasons some give, to hold into their money in regards to certain others, I am less withholding than some.

We all have reasons for the whys of things going on in life, and I feel sorry for the many in need, and am happy enough to give without restriction, when within my ability to do so. When I know the attraction of that special dessert, and consume it, even knowing the coming result at my weigh in the next morning then who am I to deny wanting others their own special something, every now and then?

Obviously, I would keep within the law, and if I knew for certain a person will definitely use any donation for something illegal, well that would be different …

Anyway, these have been some thoughts about being a Stoic, based on the doings in my life of this seasonal holiday period. I hope you’ve enjoyed reading this, and if you have any ideas, thoughts or clarifications, I eagerly await reading it! Leave a comment, so we all nay further our knowledge!

Happy Stoic New Year

Some End Of Year Stoic Thoughts To Take Into 2020

If a thing is beyond my control, I am not to blame for it, but if it was under my control, I must think deeply on why I allowed it to be.

Planning for the good to occur is a joy, planning for the bad, is a blessing … The sensible person spends at least as much energy planning for the bad, as for the good.

Everything that happens is a chance to learn. Nothing is good or bad, unless it brings no further reflection.

If I cannot be said to be at fault, I will not accept blame. If I was at fault, I will look closely at why it happened, and will take action, as appropriate, to ensure it doesn’t happen again, if such action is possible for me.

When considering my best action, I will look at the broader picture first, not only the best for myself only.

Being a member of a group is an opportunity to reach heights, but if others in the group are unable to reach them with you, you have in truth failed.

Any problems being faced now, will become irrelevant in the future, no matter how big the problem. We all will die …

If you were there when it happened, and did nothing to stop it, can you really say it wasn’t your fault at all? If you had no control over it at all, yes, otherwise no. Always do what you can if, and when, you can.

You are not one person only, you are a member of the group, the community, the world. Do all you can do, to help the best good come to all.

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If you lack the courage to do a thing this time, will you ever have the courage when you have not option but to do it?

A tree that always follows the usual direction of the wind, is a tree that will fall when the wind direction changes. Nature knows this, and acts accordingly. Let Nature be your guide …

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Facing fears and acting teaches you to be strong, hiding away from fears allows them to hurt you, over and over again.

If it is wrong for you to do a thing, but others are doing it, it is still wrong for you to do it …

Christmas & New Year Thoughts

This has been a fine year for me, in terms of sharing my words in various ways, some quite different kinds of thoughts. This blog, for instance, which covers my thoughts regarding Stoicism, and how it applies to my life.

I have had no formal training in Stoicism (although I would certainly like to have such training). I have read one book about Stoicism, a book by Massimo Pigliucci, titled “How to be a Stoic”. I found much in this book that interested me, and have been working, ever since, to be a better Stoic.

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It’s a work in progress, my Stoic life, but I find when I stay closest to Stoic ideas, I make better decision about important things. I no longer stress about anything really, because I realise there is so much in life that I can do nothing about, because they are for others to deal with.

And when I see something that is my responsibility, I try my hardest to deal with it, in the way that is best for me, for my loved ones, my community, and/or the whole, as appropriate. I can’t save everyone, from everything, but I can save some, from some things …

So this year is almost over, and tomorrow we will have the big day for the giving and receiving of gifts, with more to come the day after. Being with family is an important part of this process, being kind and thoughtful, and enjoying each other’s company.

Thoughts, and then acting on them in ways that bring good, these are the important to me, and even though I know I have flaws, I know I’m working on those flaws, and am becoming a better person, in some ways. I am a work in progress though, as we all are, and if I get things wrong at times, and find out about it, I try to mend things.

This isn’t always possible, but I take note of it, and try harder to be a good and virtuous person, using the wisdom I have, and trying to become ever wiser … I give to my community, I am honest, I try to be kind and friendly to all I meet, if and when I can. Life brings challenges, I try to meet them wisely, with my eye on the best result, in terms of good being done …

This has become my personal philosophy, and I know there are many other Stoics also working to be virtuous, working to make wise decisions, for the best of all, when and if they can … Will we one day help the whole world thing in the same way we do? Who knows, we can but try.

If you have any thoughts about any of my words here, please leave a comment, I would love to here how you feel about what I have written.

Think more on Good than Bad

If you think on the good things in your life, you will remember them more and more, and feel at peace with what you have. If you think on the bad things in your life, your will remember them, more and more and you will be unhappy, thinking on bad things instead of good.

You are what you think, if you look on yourself as a person who has good luck in your life, you will find more good luck than bad. Our ideas about what is good and what is bad mould our life. Be careful to see the good, and you can live the good.

Doing bad deeds may give you and adrenaline rush, and you can get things done, but that rush will be short lived, lasting up to an hour only, and you will feel flat afterwards.

When you do good things those feel good chemicals will be released – endorphin, oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine. These chemicals do in fact feel good to you, and are not harmful to the body, unless they lead to things that may result in bad things. The runner’s high you may get when when being active may lead you to not realising you are damaged and can cause greater ill effects.

Taking all of this into account, it is obvious that being good is better for a person, with those feel good chemicals all flooding in. But doing good can lead to better things in a community, and even on a more global level, with people doing good things for others that lead to many useful and good things.

Volunteer groups, with many people helping other people, and doing random acts of kindness, presenting workshops that help others, starting up self-help groups, and a variety of other things, these may in fact begin with people seeking to help, and enjoying the way that helping makes them feel.

Doing good for others, truly can and usually does, feel good for the do-gooder! Doing bad things certainly has no lasting beneficial effect. If you’ve ever wondered whether you should do good things, the answer is certainly a resounding YES! Weigh up what time you have available, for sure, but if and when you can easily do more good things, DO IT!

And have good things in your life, family, friends, pets, a garden, trees, all good things! Having a purpose and good things to do in your life, these can add to feeling good about yourself, and they can also help with your health and well-being.

Facebook & Being a Stoic?

Social Media has a lot to give to our lives, but it can also take much away. I am certainly conscious of the many hours I spend, mindlessly scrolling my days away on Facebook and Twitter. I comment, reply, ‘like, and share, and not much gets done, or changed or saved.

There are other ways of course, to be. I feel that a website and blog such as this one leads me to producing more considered words, requiring much more thought on my part. Thinking about truths as I see them, can bring further discussion, and the give and take of that process is, or at least can be a valuable thing, for those involved in the discussion.

I have a number of website/blogs, quite a few, actually, on different topics. My first one has been around for many years, and only has new information put on it for a particular yearly event, to help promote a poetry competition I am involved with. This is linked to the writing group I began back in 2005, and it is very dear to my heart, giving the chance for other poets in Australia to write poems that may win them good money, if they are good enough, in the way they address the particular theme/topic for the year.

I am the President and Competition Secretary of this group, and I feel what I am doing for others is a chance I have received myself in the past. Giving my time to my broader community in this way feels like a good thing to do, and given that it makes me happy as well, it’s difficult to see any reason why I should not do this. The time I spend every year, when the poetry entries begin arriving, is time I may otherwise waste by scrolling through Social Media, as I mentioned earlier. Writing up poetry entries is a far better way to spend my time.

The money that poets pay to enter this competition goes straight to costs in running the competition, and to the award winners, and I try to have judges who will appreciate performing this role. Judging the poetry of others is a great way to gain a better understanding on what makes a good poem, a winning poem.

The thing about Social Media though, that can be a good and Stoic thing to do, is the sharing of words with others. Good and inspiring words can help a person to find reasons for making good decisions. I have shared a few of these over the years, and I love it when others feel my words are useful ones. Here are a couple of my recent ones:

Be rich in your heart, and other riches become far less important.

Living your life well relates not to things, but to feelings and thoughts.

Do you feel these are useful words for the Stoic to bear in mind? As I have indicated elsewhere on this blog, I am in my early stages of my Stoic life, and I welcome any feedback from others which may assist me as I travel my path in Stoicism.

I didn’t put my name to those words on Facebook, when I posted them, although they were on my own Facebook page. I felt the sharing of the words there was a good thing, but claiming them outright as my own felt too prideful. Is that going to far, or is it the best way to go? The Stoics back 2000 years ago were often writing their words in private, but they spoke about these things with others. It’s an interesting conundrum, be ‘out there’ or be enclosed. Be humble is the Stoic way, I write these things for the getting of understanding for both myself and for interested others.

Again, any thoughts on this are most welcome. Thank you.