The 10 Stoic Keys to a psychologically healthy life

Stoic philosophy is one of those that has endured the longest and best: since its appearance in the Hellenistic period at the hands of Zeno de Citio, it became one of the schools of most important thought of the intellectuals of the Roman Republic and the later Roman Empire, and today it has experienced another resurgence of its popularity in the societies of the world western.

The truth is that this philosophical school contains many interesting ideas that can be "rescued" and applied to today's world, even though more than two thousand years have passed. Let's see what they are, in this summary of the stoic keys to have a psychologically healthy life.

The main Stoic keys to living with mental health

These are the main Stoic keys in which you can be inspired to develop a psychologically healthy way of living life.

1. Happiness justifies itself

For the stoic person, happiness is the ultimate goal of life, and is equivalent to virtue and wisdom. In this sense, we do what makes us happy with nothing but happiness as the ultimate goal, and this is the ultimate moral goal. The meaning of life is to be happy, and nothing else: not to leave offspring, not to win wars, not to win the acceptance of the whole world. In this sense,

you shouldn't have to look for a practical justification for everything you do.

2. Acknowledging one's own ignorance is a form of knowledge

Another of the Stoic clues is that he knows how to detect our ignorance which brings us closer to wisdom, although technically wisdom and ignorance are two opposite states. The person capable of detecting that her beliefs have vulnerabilities and knowledge gaps is more equipped to improve her situation, and in turn his way of interpreting things is more in line with reality compared to someone who dogmatically repeats falsehoods over and over again. In this sense, the influence of Socrates is noticeable, decisive in the thought of the first Stoic thinker, Zenón de Citio.

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3. Mind and body form a unit

The Stoics created a profoundly materialistic philosophy, and pointed out that in reality there are only bodies, that with the ability to have effects on the physical things around them and at the same time to be affected by those things. In this sense, from this perspective the "soul" is a corporeal element. Therefore, enjoying mental well-being goes through enjoying physical well-being, and you have to take care both ways.

4. Fate exists, but it is not morally relevant

From a Stoic perspective, it is absurd and totally counterproductive to become obsessed with the concept of destiny, since, by its very definition, we cannot and should not position ourselves before it: what should be, be. That does not mean that we should sit and wait for everything that is predestined to happen around us, because on our plane of existence, we are beings endowed with reason and, therefore, with ability to choose between different options and establish plans. To deny the latter would be to deny reality, since reality shows us time and time again that being rational beings is not the same as not being rational; This difference exists and is very relevant.

5. knowledge is stable

Another of the principles of Stoic philosophy is that knowledge, by the fact of being so, is stable and immutable; If we think we know something but come into contact with new information we are forced to rethink those beliefs, we never knew in the first place. But, at the same time, for the Stoics, becoming a wise person implies going through these experiences several times. in which we cling to a mirage of knowledge, and we must accept them with humility, since we learn from they: reveal our biases.

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6. We must be fair to everyone, without falling into relativism

For the Stoics, the ethical mandates must be applied equally to everyone; Not doing so would imply entering a vicious circle in which we are constantly looking for excuses to treat others differently based on our preferences.

This means that it is necessary to avoid falling into moral relativism (the belief that the simple fact of living in different societies or cultures implies having to abide by totally different ethical ideals), such as falling into discrimination based on the spirit of revenge against those who have harmed us in the past. It is a way of looking at things that has been called "Stoic cosmopolitanism." and that it can create around us a series of social circles in which reciprocity and equanimity are respected, something that also favors us and our mental health.

7. The happy life is free of passions

That is one of the most controversial Stoic ideas from the perspective of modern Westerners, but it should be noted that for Stoics, the passions are actually the drives; psychological processes that go against reason. These are characterized by destabilizing the progress of the person in his advance towards happiness, because they make him give in to certain experiences without taking into account a global vision of the situation and the path that has led to that moment. So, passions lead us to "forget" what really matters to us, of what we are willing to apply continuous effort and discipline to, and they are not exactly equivalent to what makes us feel motivated and involved in something that brings meaning to our lives, but rather what contrary.

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8. Temperance is one of the most important values

Another of the fundamental Stoic principles is based on the need to strengthen our temperance, understood as the ability the influence that worldly pleasures have on us, those disconnected from the path that leads us to be virtuous/happy

This does not have to mean martyring ourselves by thinking over and over again about what we should not do, even though a part of us wants to do it; as for stoic philosophy rationality goes hand in hand with maturity, his way of dealing with temptations is not based on self-punishment, but on rationality: what in theoretical and practical terms brings us closer to virtue. For example, limiting our exposure to what tempts us is a perfectly justifiable way of not falling into passion and, at the same time, of not constantly suffering for it.

9. Courage does not mean not being afraid

We should not martyr ourselves for feeling a fear that we consider to be contrary to reason, among other things, because this would make us feel more vulnerable, anguished, and fearful. The important thing is not to let fear paralyze us in those situations where what is needed of us is to face a possible source of danger, showing courage.

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10. Wisdom is created through experience: you have to go out and learn

For the Stoics, we are not born wise, not even rational.; both things are built through a process of psychological maturity. And, by the way, this implies learning from the interaction with the environment and the assessment of the stimuli captured by our senses; not everything is based on introspection.