I thought I'd ponder the words of a bloke who died almost two thousand years ago.

Definitely one of the ancient 1%, but wise also. Should someone invent cheap time travel within the next decade or so, I'd like to contemplate the author:

Put yourself in harmony with the things
among which your lot is cast ; love those with
whom you have your portion, with a true love.

What is not good for the swarm is not good
for the bee.

(If you're wondering, JtC lifted my suspension. We cleared the air, agreed to disagree and agreed that occasional differences between friends is part of life. A rather stoic arrangement, one could say.)
Welcome to Part Four.
Part One can be found here:http://caucus99percent.com/content/resilience-how-stoic-marcus-aurelius-...
I find the teachings of Stoicism a great help in strengthening my ptsd-scrambled brain.
It has been universally beneficial to regular folks for 2,500 years now.
You may find it a useful, practical guide to strengthen your mind in these turbulent times.
Previously, I had written a 3-part essay series on the Stoic teachings of the Roman Epictetus that makes for a brief grounding in Stoic practical basics. You will find it in the Resilience Group Essay Queue:
http://caucus99percent.com/content/stoicism-trauma-survivors-part-13

This is a four-part series on the thoughts to himself of the Roman Stoic, Marcus Aurelius, emperor of Rome.
I present an introduction on what Aurelius means to me, who he was, and then his thoughts without comment: for they speak clearly for themselves directly to the reader. More below.

Hello, dear friends. Welcome to Part Three.
I find the teachings of Stoicism a great help in strengthening my ptsd-scrambled brain. It has been universally beneficial to regular folks for 2,500 years now.
You may find it a useful, practical guide to strengthen your mind in these turbulent times.
Previously, I had written a 3-part essay series on the Stoic teachings of the Roman Epictetus that makes for a brief grounding in Stoic practical basics. You will find it in the Resilience Group Essay Queue:
http://caucus99percent.com/content/stoicism-trauma-survivors-part-13

This is a four-part series on the thoughts to himself of the Roman Stoic, Marcus Aurelius, emperor of Rome.
I present an introduction on what Aurelius means to me, who he was, and then his thoughts without comment: for they speak clearly for themselves directly to the reader. More below.

Hello, dear friends. I find the teachings of Stoicism a great help in strengthening my ptsd-scrambled brain.
It has been universally beneficial to regular folks for 2,500 years now.
You may find it a useful, practical guide to strengthen your mind in these turbulent times.
Previously, I had written a 3-part essay series on the Stoic teachings of the Roman Epictetus that makes for a brief grounding in Stoic practical basics. You will find it in the Resilience Group Essay Queue:
http://caucus99percent.com/content/stoicism-trauma-survivors-part-13

This is Part Two of a four-part series on the thoughts to himself of the Roman Stoic, Marcus Aurelius, emperor of Rome. I present an introduction on what Aurelius means to me and then his thoughts without comment: for they speak clearly for themselves directly to the reader.
If you've read Part One, skip straight to the quotes, eh :=) Thank you the wonderful discussion in part one.
Here is Part One: http://caucus99percent.com/content/resilience-how-stoic-marcus-aurelius-...
More below.

Hello, dear friends, from the old loafer. I find the teachings of Stoicism a great help in strengthening my ptsd-scrambled brain. It has been universally beneficial to regular folks for 2,500 years now.
You may find it a useful, practical guide to strengthen your mind in these turbulent times.
Previously, I had written a 3-part essay series on the Stoic teachings of the Roman Epictetus that makes for a brief grounding in Stoic practical basics. You will find it in the Resilience Group Essay Queue:
http://caucus99percent.com/content/stoicism-trauma-survivors-part-13

This is the first of a four-part series on the thoughts to himself of the Roman Stoic, Marcus Aurelius, emperor of Rome. I present an introduction on what Aurelius means to me and then his thoughts without comment: for they speak clearly for themselves directly to the reader. More below.

Job one in becoming a more resilient person is the constant work of making one’s mind more resilient. Could I really become more resilient when my mind is so fragile and I am so anxious? Yes, I can. As long as I can still learn new things. Otherwise, sadly, no.
I’m going through a few days at the moment where my mind is very fragile: anxious, brittle, scattered and unfocused. Perhaps there are times when you know the same.
When I realized what was happening inside, I went to reread something that works for me in fragile mind-states: a Taoist teaching called wu-wei. More below.

Thank you for following the discussion to the last diary on this topic for now. If you'd like to catch up, see it in my blog. So far we have looked at a number of building blocks of the Stoic way of life.

1. What is the goal of life? Stoicism says it is to flourish.
2: What is good? Stoicism says there is a third category in the moral universe, namely “neutral.” Good and evil reside only within us. Neutrals – preferred and dispreferred – are things and events external to us.
3. What is within our power to do? We talked about what is within our power, our character.
We went over the proper use of sensory impressions. We discussed how to use new scripts to override poor thoughts brought on by neural pathways created by trauma reactions.
In this part, we discuss two last questions:
4. How should I act?
5. How should I live?
Part 1/3 is here: http://caucus99percent.com/content/stoicism-trauma-survivors-part-13

This article is Part 2 of an introduction to Stoicism for trauma survivors. In an introduction to Aristotelian virtue ethics I posted recently, I said this: Tough times calls for tough people. Personal resilience begins with toughening our minds. See, in G's take on human biology, the mind supports the spine. A weak mind causes the spine to dissolve. My major concern with progressives is the mind-spine connection. Only hard work creates a tough mind. Our minds are plastic: life will mold it for you if you don't construct it through will, hard work, perseverance. It applies everywhere.
Part 1/3 is here: http://caucus99percent.com/content/stoicism-trauma-survivors-part-13

I’m a PTSD survivor, which is just one form of anxiety disorder. So many of us a trauma survivors. In fact, methinks life is trauma survival. One of the things that help keep my nose above water is Stoicism. I have compiled a summary of Stoic ethics for my own guidance. I share it here, hoping it may also help you a bit. It’s from my viewpoint as a trauma survivor, but it’s applicable to anyone anywhere
I used the thought of the greatest Roman Stoic, Epictetus, to help myself learn. This article will look at two of five questions:
1. What is the goal of life?
2: What is good?