Early on in my service in Corrections I thought I had adopted a Stoic 'Stiff Upper Lip Attitude' philosophy. I would take those stressors, pay them no mind and push them aside. However, to be precise, I thought I was pushing those stressors aside, what I was actually doing was tossing those pieces of trash into a mental closet. Eventually the trash had overrun the closet, filled my metaphorical house and threatened to bring down the structure. Two years ago, after I started my recovery journey, I discovered what real stoicism was. It is an ancient philosophy that was born in Greece. It teaches how to focus on what we have the power to control, our thoughts, feelings and desires. Thoughts; quite often my thoughts would overwhelm me and rouse anxiety and anger. What I learned from stoicism was to take a step back from my thoughts and analyze them. I would take the thought and weigh it against the known facts to see if the thought was appropriate to the situation. When I learned ...
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