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What's your reason to live?

seabird

seabird

meandering home
SF Supporter
#122
#122
LonelyHiker said:
From The Daily Stoic today:


It’s one of the darkest and most sensitive subjects in Stoicism: Suicide. Cato took his own life rather than submit to Caesar. Seneca took his, under duress from Nero. The Stoics spoke of suicide as the “open door,” a choice open to us all at any moment.

Given the tyrants, the evil, the slavery and the torture that the Stoics faced in their day, their contemplation of suicide makes sense. Here in the modern world—in the time of a pandemic and economic uncertainty that has depression rates spiking—it is worth taking a moment to remind ourselves that this is a subject not to be taken lightly or to be flippantly cavalier about. The Stoics may have believed that suicide was a choice we all have, but they were still pretty clear: It’s the wrong choice.

Marcus Aurelius was clearly depressive by nature. He was wracked by constant pain. He dealt with profound tragedy (no one should bury a child). He had incredible burdens on his shoulders. And yet? He stuck around. He struggled through. Because he knew that life was worth it. He knew there was darkness ahead—he’d seen plenty of it—but he also knew that there would be bright spots ahead as well. Bright spots that broke up and blunted the darkness.

He probably would have also agreed with the classic observation from Hamlet:

To grunt and sweat under a weary life,
But that the dread of something after death,
The undiscovere'd country, from whose bourn
No traveller returns, puzzles the will,
And makes us rather bear those ills we have
Than fly to others that we know not of?
It’s the perfect Stoic logic applied to a sensitive topic: What makes you so sure that what’s on the other side is a relief? Sure, science and religion give us hints...but no assurances. Marcus reminds himself in Meditations to push through his pain because it will either end, or he will. He knew it was arrogant to assume that he could find a way around it. He knew that to mess with fate was to potentially invite a worse fate.

So he stuck around. He did the best he could. Which is all we can do. Which is what we have to do. You. Me. Everyone. No one is saying life is perfect, we’re just suggesting a little humility in the form of surrender to the uncomfortable realities of life.

Don’t fly off to something worse. Bear what you can now. Because you can bear it. We know you can.
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It took me a few minutes of searching to find this. It'd been popping into my mind the last couple of weeks. Anyway I remembered you'd posted it a while back. The quote from Hamlet meshes well with stoicism. Thank you for posting this @LonelyHiker
 
KM76710

KM76710

Kangaroo Manager
SF Pro
SF Supporter
#129
#129
SushiGirl said:
Might seem shallow but my cat wouldn't survive without me. My family would try to take care of her but she wouldn't cope. She gets scared at the drop of a pin and has severe separation anxiety. I couldn't do that to her.
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Nothing shallow at all in considering your pet as family and wanting to do right by her. Compassion for living creatures is a fine trait in a person.
 
3nufk1n.sheepies

3nufk1n.sheepies

autistic apoxian eastern european toker
#130
#130
Riding a bicycle is very fun.
Drugs (counterproductive ik) life would be so boring and pointless for me if it wasnt for the weed
interesting Wikipedia raids late at night (when Im somehow finally not so insecure, or overwhelmed, or uncomfortable, or too bored to do anything)
being in a moving vehicle in a place I like listening to music
falling asleep with Sheepy on my head cosy after sedative herb tea
Downloading my favourite music off Youtube, buying nice clothes
hoarding books from libraries, second hand shops, etc
 
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