Anxiety sucks, I mean it REALLY sucks! If you’ve ever experienced it, than you know how suckethly sucketh it sucks. But there are ways to manage it, and one of the oldest and most effective ways is through Stoic philosophy.
Roman emperor and Stoic philosopher Marcus Aurelius famously wrote “You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”1. Simplified, Aurelius basically suggested that we have the power to see anxiety not as an external force that controls us, but as a challenge that we have the power to respond to.
Epictetus, another prominent Stoic, emphasized the distinction between things we can control and things we can’t: “We cannot choose our external circumstances, but we can always choose how we respond to them.”2 When anxiety knocks, it’s essential to remember that while we might not control the initial feeling, we can control our reaction to it by doing the following:
- Acknowledge the Feeling: Recognize anxiety without judgment. It’s a natural human emotion, but it doesn’t define our entire being.
- Reflect on Its Source: Dive deep into understanding the root of the anxiety. Is it based on a genuine concern, or is it an unfounded fear?
- Empower Your Response: Drawing from Stoic teachings, decide how to address the feeling. Do we engage with it, or do we let it pass, knowing it’s just a fleeting emotion?
Modern Stoic and psycho-therapist Donald Robertson suggests that “Stoicism teaches us to adopt a form of psychological mindfulness, which helps us become more aware of our automatic thoughts and how they shape our feelings.”3 This mindfulness offers a fresh perspective on managing our anxieties.
In essence, Stoicism doesn’t promise a life devoid of challenges like anxiety. Instead, it offers us the tools to face such challenges head-on, reminding us of our inherent strength and resilience.
Footnotes
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations
- Epictetus, Enchiridion
- Donald Robertson, Stoicism and the Art of Happiness
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