Friday philosophy - Seneca on Grief \ stacker news ~FiresidePhilosophy

pull down to refresh

279 sats \ 9 comments \ @stack_harder 6 Dec FiresidePhilosophy

I thought i would share my favourite excerpt from Seneca on Grief and the Key to Resilience in the Face of Loss.

I have this saved in a Google note and come back to it from time to time to keep myself from falling for the gifts of fate. As someone who has been self-employed for a decade and a freelancer even before then, it's very important to keep mental balance when experiencing turbulence (and there's always turbulence lol)

'No man has been shattered by the blows of Fortune unless he was first deceived by her favours. Those who loved her gifts as if they were their own forever, who wanted to be admired on account of them, are laid low and grieve when the false and transient pleasures desert their vain and childish minds, ignorant of every stable pleasure. But the man who is not puffed up in good times does not collapse either when they change. His fortitude is already tested and he maintains a mind unconquered in the face of either condition: for in the midst of prosperity he has tried his own strength against adversity.'

Do you Stacker philosophers have any favourites you come back to?

view all related items

106 sats \ 4 replies \ @Aardvark 6 Dec

I'm not really educated in philosophy unfortunately, but anecdotally I find it to be true. Last year around this time my wife got laid off from her job. Luckily for me, I'm in an industry where I can just work until I collapse because the hours are available.

I started putting in 55 to 60 hour work weeks every week, this was m-f so I was doing 11 to 12 hiur shifts daily. Every day on my way to work, instead of dreading my upcoming day, I forced myself to be thankful. My entire drive to work is would just keep listing all the things I was thankful for, 20 minutes a day everyday.

When times were good, I was always reminded myself that nothing lasts forever, and to be prepared for when something falls apart, and we made it through that rough patch just fine.

I was able to keep that up for several months, while still being supportive to my wife who was pretty devastated by being unemployed. Now we're better off than before, and I'm already preparing for the next catastrophe.

11 sats \ 1 reply \ @stack_harder OP 6 Dec

that's rough man, but you sound like you made it out of the worst. i quite often plan worst case scenarios just so i can make sure I'm ready.

most people i know personally are so leveraged with debt that if they lost a job for more than a few months, they'd be getting foreclosed on.

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @Aardvark 6 Dec

I've always been extremely debt adverse. I'm 43, and have never once paid interest on a credit card. The only reason I even use one is to keep my credit score high.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @Bell_curve 6 Dec

What industry did your wife work? Are layoffs increasing in her former company and sector?

I am wondering if unemployment will increase next year

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @Aardvark 6 Dec

She is a product manager. She worked for a company that made lifts for Amazon warehouses. She still has the same job title, but now she is a project manager in the tech sector.

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @suraz 6 Dec

32 sats \ 1 reply \ @earthcakes 6 Dec

I love Seneca. Some of the ones that stick with me are:

"If you really want to escape the things that harass you, what you’re needing is not to be in a different place but to be a different person."

and

"Life is long if you know how to use it."

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @stack_harder OP 6 Dec

this is especially true when people go traveling thinking it will solve all their problems but realise after a while that the problem was inside all along

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @Imyourfed 6 Dec

“Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.” ― Seneca