This is all wrapped up, for reasons that doubtless Mr. Foster can explain to us, with a lot of concerns about relationships and love. Young people are anxious about that too, I guess.
The thing about anxiety is that it turns out to be one of the things you really can do something about. Stoic philosophy is a practice that tackles the problem of anxiety by helping you identify what you can control, what you can't control, and ways of focusing on the former. This does a great deal to eliminate anxiety from your life, because your focus ends up on things you absolutely can master. As you learn to let go of the other things and focus on your area of control, anxiety will diminish because you care less and less about the things outside your control.
The Enchiridion and its commentary (see sidebar) are a good place to start here, but if you want support The Daily Stoic is a good institution as well.
Also, ride horses or motorcycles. As Aristotle teaches, you get virtues by practicing them. Get out and practice taking risks, being courageous, doing dangerous things. You'll get better and better at the things, but you'll also get better and better at handling risky situations in general.
UPDATE: I remember on reflection how exciting Aristotle was to me when I was young, and facing all the uncertainty of youth. Then one day I encountered a professor who told us, “Aristotle says that happiness is an activity, and the particular activity is using your reason to align your vital powers in the pursuit of excellence.”
That was a revelation to me. Happiness was in my hands. All I had to do was do it. The Stoics refined that picture, but that’s the truth. There’s no reason to be anxious. Just go do.
2 comments:
I keep thinking of some lines from Walter Miller's great novel A Canticle for Leibowitz:
"To minimize suffering and to maximize security were natural and proper ends of society and Caesar. But then they became the only ends, somehow, and the only basis of law––a perversion. Inevitably, then, in seeking only them, we found only their opposites: maximum suffering and minimum security."
Perhaps some of the highly anxious youth would be less anxious had they been able to do some reasonable levels of risk-taking when they were younger.
Claire Lehmann, writing at FB:
"As students return to school, I have a straightforward request for educators: Please stop making our children feel guilty about events beyond their control.
A few years ago, I realised there was a problem when my four-year-old son came home from preschool feeling sad. He had learned about the Stolen Generation, and had internalised guilt about the babies that had been taken away. The lesson made him feel as if he were somehow to blame. So I had to explain to him that even though these events were terrible, they were not his fault. I had to explain that our legal system does not recognise blood guilt and does not hold people responsible for actions they did not commit. He should only feel guilty for things he has done himself.
I’m not alone with these concerns. Nine News reported last year that other parents and grandparents have found apology cards written by their preschool-aged children with messages such as “Sorry for hurting you. Sorry for hurting your land”.
The Stolen Generation is an undoubtedly important chapter in Australia’s history. It should be taught as part of Australian history, without being sanitised or glossed over. But preschool is not the time for such classes. Preschoolers can barely write their own names and tie their own shoelaces. They are not yet capable of abstract thought. Asking them to feel “sorry” over the actions of past generations seems more like an exercise in self-flagellation than pedagogy."
Claire has a column at The Australian expanding on this point, but you have to be a subscriber to read it.
Post a Comment