Three (More) Perennial Habits - Stoic Wisdom for Daily Life
The PATH | Dichotomy of Control, View from Above, Memento Mori
Welcome to The PATH — A weekly reflection with three timeless insights for daily life. This week’s reflection searches for ancient lessons on perennial habits for everyday life (The dichotomy of control, The view from above, and memento mori).
The Dichotomy of Control
The little book by Epictetus called Enchiridion or “manual” begins with a simple (but not easy) lesson known today as the dichotomy of control.
What do we actually control in life? According to Epictetus,
Some things are within our power, and some things are beyond our power. Within our power are opinion, aim, desire, aversion, and, in a word, whatever affairs are our own. Beyond our power are body, property, reputation, office, and, in a word, whatever are not properly our own affairs.
It’s a straightforward practice — years of training are not needed to understand it fully. Yet it is challenging to put into practice. In my interview with William B. Irvine (author of The Stoic Challenge), he revealed this point: “If desire were an Olympic sport, we would all make the team.”
One of the keys to implementing the dichotomy of control requires us to recognize and overcome the desire to control the things that are outside of our control. Thankfully, we can use many other practices with the dichotomy of control—like the view from above.
The View from Above
One of the common themes across wisdom traditions is an emphasis on seeing clearly. When we can see through the delusion, we are much more likely to make wise decisions. The Platonists, Epicureans, and Stoics all discovered this “exercise of imagination,” referred to as taking a cosmic view from above. The point of the exercise is to put into proper perspective the issues of daily life.
The philosopher Pierre Hadot wrote,
Philosophy deepens and transforms habitual perception, forcing us to become aware that we are perceiving the world, and that the world is that which we perceive.
The sage holds two perspectives — the whole (a view from above) and the part (grounded) at the same time. By doing so, the sage can see the constant state of change in the world and meet the day with new eyes.
As Seneca explained in a letter to Lucilius: “As for me, I usually spend a great deal of time contemplating wisdom. I look at the world with the same surprise I often feel I am seeing it for the first time.”
The final practice that helps us put things in perspective is meditating on our mortality (or memento mori).
Memento Mori
“You could leave life right now, let that determine what you do say and think,” wrote Marcus Aurelius in his journal known today as Meditations. It’s a reminder for all of us — a harsh truth that our next moment is not promised.
Like the abovementioned view from above, meditating on our mortality puts what truly matters into perspective. My interview with David Fideler (author of Breakfast with Seneca) revealed that meditating on our mortality can help us to appreciate life. Fideler explains,
The practice of remembering your death or memento mori is an aspect of what the Stoics called the premeditation of adversity. You contemplate negative things that could happen to you in advance, just for a moment. Doing so removes the sting of them should they actually happen. And one of the benefits of doing this is realizing how many things in life we actually take for granted.
Take a moment to reflect on an issue you’re dealing with outside your control. By reminding ourselves (occasionally) of our impermanence, most of our desires fade away (or at least become much less intense).
What changes would you make if your doctor revealed you have a terminal condition? Seneca urges us to remember that all of us have a terminal illness. In a letter to Lucilius, Seneca stressed,
We die every day, for every day some part of life is taken from us. Even when we are still growing, our life is shrinking. We lost our infancy, then childhood, then youth. All our time was lost in the moment of passage, right up to yesterday, and even today is divided with death as it goes by.
These three perennial habits are not meant to consume us. They are short practices that help us to see reality and get the most out of life.
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Thank you for reading; I hope you found something useful.
Until next time, be wise and be well,