To be good you must first believe that you are bad.
This is a quote taken from Epictetus' Enchiridion which is a short Stoic ethical advice manuscript compiled by one of his disciples, Arrian.
This quote is a great one, and appeals greatly to me at this moment in my life, especially after reading Tara Brach's book Radical Acceptance last week. It has become apparent that I am far too harsh on myself, and far too critical of everything I do in life. There is only so long that this self-deteriorating habit can subside because of it, just like any destructive behaviour eventually takes its toll. As I've become more ambitious with my life I recently realised how much I would beat myself up if I wasn't acting in line with achieving my goals. This has been detrimental to my productivity, and self-esteem and Epictetus depicted it perfectly in this quote. We need to understand that as human beings, we all have tendencies to be 'bad' at times, in this case, the decision to waste time doing less important things is my 'bad'. We all have to accept our bad, and work on it, life is a work in progress and that's what keeps it interesting and allows us to live a happy, wonderful life. Therefore, be a little more narcissistic, love yourself for who you are, keep on improving on your deficiencies and you will always feel accomplished.
Background on Epictetus:
Born into slavery 55AD Epictetus is the famous Stoic of whom is most influenced by God, or the Greek Gods as they were in those times. His slave master was very fond of him and allowed him to study philosophy in his spare time and this is when he was exposed to the ‘Stoa’ teachings by his mentor Musonius Rufus. Epictetus gained freedom from slavery shortly after Emperor Nero’s death and subsequently began teaching philosophy. He taught stoicism for the rest of his life, even when forced to leave Rome as philosophers were banned in Rome, he simply moved to Greece and taught for his remaining days until he died in 135AD. His tao is spread over a few books, each of which are harder reads when compared to Aurelius or Seneca’s writings.
Other Stoic Happiness Wednesday's
Marcus Aurelius
Seneca
More from Epictetus
Very good. I'm like that too... I beat myself up a lot. Nowadays to help with that, I'm practicing "Embracing the Suck!". I'll write a post on that soon. It's all about realizing the truth and consistency of impermanence in your emotions, especially the negative ones like fear, sadness, or when you beat yourself up. Feel the emotions and let them pass like clouds in the sky!
Have a good day~
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