He stoicism is the capacity or willpower of an individual to control your feelings or emotions . Someone stoic, therefore, remains firm in the face of adversity . For example: "The woman showed stoicism in the face of tragedy", "You have to have stoicism at the level of business if you want to progress", "When I had to stay out of the team, I accepted it with stoicism".
The notion of stoicism is also used to name a philosophical school who founded the Greek Zeno of Citio about three hundred years before Christ . The Stoic doctrine promoted the dominion of the passions that generate disturbances, appealing for this to the reason Yet the virtue personal.
According to Stoicism, the key to happiness is found in the ataraxia : the balance that is achieved when there are no disturbances. To achieve ataraxia, the individual must remain oblivious to material vicissitudes and must refrain from making judgments.
Stoicism doubted the existence of sensitive knowledge since perception depends on the subject: that is why, given the various situations that the same goes through person or the factors that affect the object, it is impossible that there is an immediate reproduction of a thing.
The Stoic, therefore, intended to live according to reason and free of passions . Since Stoicism understood passion as a deviation from the rational nature of human being , invited to master the reactions through self-control. That is why he encouraged a life in tune with natural laws.
One of the current figures of stoicism is the professor of philosophy Massimo Pigliucci , born in Italy in 1964, who works in the American university system called City University of New York. In his book entitled How to be stoic, published by the publisher Ariel, gives us a series of tips to take advantage of this current of thought born three centuries before Christ to live better.
According to Pigliucci, there is no single way or group of doctrines to follow to respect the foundations of Stoicism, and this clearly differentiates it from certain religions. The Stoics move through life combining a series of practices and techniques that they find on their own experience personal, and so they build their paths individually.
To live the stoicism in the 21st century, the author offers certain "spiritual exercises" that we can apply in our daily lives, such as the following:
* temperance : it's about the reflection about the fleeting nature of things. This should be practiced with a special focus on the most precious things for one, on those that benefit us most or that we value most, to understand that everything and everyone ceases to exist sooner or later;
* anticipation : It is good to contemplate the potential consequences of our plans, to prevent being surprised. In this way, we will have more control about difficult situations;
* self control : We must not be complicit in those who try to hurt us, since their provocation can only work if we allow it. The impulses they can lead us to our downfall, and so we must control them trying to think cold just before making the most important decisions;
* solidarity : Stoicism seeks a harmonious life with our environment, and therefore proposes to empathize with the pain of others, as if it were their own;
* observation : the human being tends to think much more frequently than to observe in silence , and this prevents you from getting rich. It is very important to find the content before sharing it, to say only things that can serve some purpose, instead of spending saliva and energy covering the silence, one of our most valuable resources.
