The Stoic Way of Life

If we are to bring back any sanity in the politics and the culture of America, it is true that more of us will have to begin acting like the adults we are.  We are going to have to face facts, not wishful thinking.  We are going to have to understand reality on the ground, and not posit things as the "should be" according to our own sense of fairness.  We are going to have to regain the "stiff upper lip," that characterized generations past.

That is the topic of today's post, based on the article by John Dale Dunn over at the American Thinker entitled The Stoic Philosophy Can Fix This Mess. Dunn writes:

Vice Admiral James B Stockdale was a naval fighter pilot about to be redeployed to Viet Nam War when he took graduate studies at Stanford, and became immersed in the philosophy of Stoicism, that helped him deal with his hardships when he was shot down, then held a prisoner for 7 years, becoming the Commanding Officer of the American prisoners at the Hanoi Hilton. He was one of the most revered and honored Naval Aviators of all time, recipient of the Medal of Honor.

Stockdale in his writings and his speeches made his case for the value of Stoicism, a moral and ethical philosophy originating with Seneca the younger, a Roman in the first Century AD, and with the teachings and writings of Epictetus, a Greek Slave brought to Rome, who was a teacher and scholar, and then with the last of the good Roman Emperors, Marcus Aurelius (2nd century AD).

Please read the whole article. Note that I am not advocating we do not fight the evil that is overtaking our country. On the contrary, I think we need to fight, and more importantly, to win. But we can be bitter, or we can be happy warriors. I think it is important to be the happy warriors. For one thing, being happy drives the Left out of their minds.

I hope everyone had a good thanksgiving, and indeed, that all my readers were thankful for everything the Lord has given us.  It is too easy to take our lives for granted.  But an attitude of gratitude can go a long way toward making us less anxious.