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the video but for now let's get on with 5 ways to overcome our fears from the philosophy
of Epictetus. Epictetus is one of the greatest stoic philosophers
of all time and his journey to becoming a master in stoicism is exceptional. Born in 50 AD, Epictetus was born into slavery
and was serving a wealthy master, Epaphroditus, who served as a secretary to Nero, the Roman
Emperor at that time. Epictetus had the unusual privilege of being
given the right to study philosophy by his master - a right he took maximum advantage
of. Epictetus devoured Stoicism quickly, and what
stuck with him was how practical Stoicism is, and how it can truly help people alleviate
their pain. According to the stoics, everything around
us operates through a web of cause and effect resulting in the rational structure of the
universe which they called “LOGOS”. And while we may not have control over the
events that affect us, we do have control over how we approach things. This was something Epictetus had the chance
to study under one of the most influential stoic philosophers, Musonius Rufus. From there, Epictetus dug deep into it, and
when given his freedom, he pushed his learning until he became a teacher himself. Epictetus left us two main books, his most
famous book “Discourses”, and the “Handbook”, two books that served as a north star for
many stoics who came after him, especially the great Marcus Aurelius. Fear, according to Epictetus, is at the root
of all our pain. Although there are rational fears, most of
the ones that make us anxious are irrational, and thus one has to clarify one’s fears,
and get rid of the ones that don’t make any sense. Most of our fears, according to the Stoics,
come from a deep attachment to external things, and that is something that is not coherent
with Stoicism. A stoic should be detached from anything that
does not fall under their control, which is why in today’s video we’re going to share
5 life teachings from Epictetus on how to overcome fear. 1- Make Sense of Fear Epictetus says “Philosophy’s main task
is to respond to the soul’s cry; to make sense of and thereby free ourselves from the
hold of our griefs and fears”. When Epictetus became a teacher himself, he
emphasized rationalizing our fears, meaning that if we analyze each one of our fears,
we’ll see that there’s no real basis to many of them, and the only reason we have
them is that there's a bigger fear - the fear of social disgrace. What he means by this is that when we fear
losing our jobs, for example, it is not just because we’ll become jobless that we’re
afraid, but because of how the people around us will see that, potentially labeling us
as failures. He also teaches us that many of our fears
that we think are related to necessities are in fact just desires, like the businessman
who thinks he can’t live without a driver, and the families that think they can’t live
without a nanny. And so, he directs us to discern between what’s
really a necessity, and what is not, and for those that are not, we should not fear them,
nor get attached to them emotionally. Epictetus urges us to look deeply into our
fear as a first step to getting rid of irrational ones. Nowadays, the world is in no shortage of irrational
fears. Our world is marked by excessive possessions
and consumerism and this desire to accumulate as many possessions as possible ends up developing
so many fears and anxieties in us, one could be forgiven for thinking that every single
thing we desire is essential to our very existence. For example – the fear of not owning a car
– this particular fear would create unbearable anxiety in many people, many of whom will
feel that a car is vital and their survival depends on it. Although a car makes life much easier, at
the end of the day, it’s just one transportation vehicle, and there are many out there that
we can utilize without having the need to possess them, like public transport or a taxi. Ofcourse, we do have rational fears, but those
never change throughout our history. For example, the fear of not having access
to clean water, food to eat, or being in a dangerous and fatal situation. These are fears that even our great ancestors
had. Therefore, we should reconsider what we fear
today, and filter the fears that are rational from the ones we only think are rational,
but are not so in reality. One of the ways Epictetus urges people to
overcome fears is by studying philosophy. In Epictetus’s case, philosophy is what
made him reach such a high awareness of our fears and how to deal with them. Philosophy is a remedy to see life as it truly
is. It empowers our minds. We become more prepared to discern between
the things that deserve our thinking, and things we should let go of. We become more aware of our fears and whether
they’re rational or irrational. One can also seek to make sense of one’s
fears by experimenting with those fears, like those who climb mountains specifically because
they fear heights. Just make sure you analyze them well, and
see them for what they truly are from an objective lens. Always, remember, if fear was an ocean, then
you’re a human being who can get out of the ocean, not a fish who swims endlessly
in it. 2- Embrace life trials
According to Epictetus “We must be afraid of neither poverty nor exile nor imprisonment,
of fear itself only should we fear”. Epictetus’s teachings urge people to focus
only on what’s in their control, and not give any external events any emotional attachment. For, we have no power over those events, and
they happen regardless of what we want or do not want. This principle of only focusing on what you
can control is a cornerstone of stoic philosophy and this dichotomy of control is particularly
true for fears. Most of the things that we fear today are
completely out of our control. In Epictetus’ case, the emperor Domitian
was irritated by the stoics, and thus, he exiled Epictetus and many other philosophers
from Rome. However, since the ban decision was out of
his control, he accepted it, went to another city, and proceeded with his teachings, perhaps
with more belief in them. Life is full of surprises. So much so that that’s a common expression
today, but the problem with surprises is that they can be bad as well as good and we can’t
prepare for them otherwise they wouldn’t be surprises. So what can we do? Should we live in fear? In a constant state of anxiety? That cannot be the answer. We should empower ourselves to embrace or
at least accept the things we wished hadn’t happened. If we can do that, it can trigger greatness
within us. In Stoic philosophy, we call this “Amor
Fati”, which means “Love of Fate”. Amor Fati means accepting one’s life entirely,
with its good and bad, fortunate and unfortunate events, and embracing it all. For example, let’s say you’ve been working
on a project that you think has a lot of potential but once you get your project out there, it
doesn’t get the reception you were hoping for. Although you tried so hard to overcome the
difficulties, you came to the conclusion that sadly, that idea is not the right one. You’ve put your blood, sweat and tears into
this. You’ve reached out to people to invest in
you, but you did not get the returns you expected. Although it’s been a great learning experience
and you are happy with many aspects of your projects, the final reception is not something
you have control over. You did everything you could, and it didn’t
work, so why would you consider yourself a failure? Many great entrepreneurs failed more than
they succeeded, and they kept going. Because that is the human spirit, that is
love of fate. When dealing with unfortunate events that
do not fall under our control, one should either meet it with indifference, or use it
to one’s own advantage and act accordingly and only then can we find ourselves reaching
greatness. 3- Believe in your ability to do wonders Epictetus teaches us that “Unremarkable
lives are marked by the fear of not looking capable when trying something new”. Being born into slavery, the chance that Epictetus
would be remembered as one of the greatest philosophers of all time was vanishingly slim. It was his master who gave him the chance
to study philosophy, but who would have thought that Epictetus would become one of the masters
of that very philosophy. Sure, Epictetus’ motivation was not to be
the greatest, but he definitely believed in his ability to deliver value and pursue knowledge,
even if he was just a slave among sons of wealth and families of knowledge. Epictetus went against the odds. And with all the unparalleled hardships he
faced, he became the greatest Stoic teacher in the Roman Empire, giving us an example
to always believe in ourselves. If life had an unspoken synonym, it would
be trials and a wonderfully simple-but-accurate representation of this would be in the classic
video game, Super Mario Bros. The scrappy plumber does his absolute best
to defy the odds and save the princess, having to overcome many trials to reach his goal. But no matter how hard the game gets, he keeps
going at it fearlessly or literally dies trying. Although we may not face the same fatal challenges
as poor Mario, we certainly face many problems that take a lot from us and thus create this
illusion that reaching our final destiny is nearly impossible. And so we fear to take difficult steps, be
it in your professional life after a failure or in moving on after a break up because you
do not want to lose what you think is left of you and fear what you see in front of you. However, with our limited time on earth, shouldn’t
we make something out of it? Indeed, we will all face tough challenges
many times throughout our lives, but isn’t that just part of the bittersweet beauty of
what makes life, life? Imagine yourself starting a podcast, for example,
and you bring on many diverse speakers, you try with different formats, different topics,
you do everything well, from the marketing side, to the production, but no matter what
you try it just refuses to take off. But one day, with one guest you didn’t even
realize was special, it blows up, and your podcast starts trending, reaching the top
of the charts in your country. Who would have thought? But was it a surprise for you? Not exactly.... It was pure dedication and unshakeable belief. Although the previous episodes didn’t get
the right initial reception and were judged as failures, you believed in what you had
to offer, and eventually, your efforts were rewarded. Therefore, we should dare to take risks, and
to fail. Dare to overcome the hardships that life might
throw at you. ALWAYS remember, greatness is only unlocked
when we get tested, if not, our greatness would always be in question. 4. Don’t fear other people’s judgment In the words of Epictetus “If you are tempted
to look for outside approval, realize that you have compromised your own integrity. If you need a witness, be your own”. Epictetus’ Era was one where there was a
group of people called the sophists, who go way back in time to Ancient Greece, but maintained
their presence throughout the ages. The sophists were those intellectuals who
knew how to go about things, debate, and were masters of rhetoric. But a sophist was also one who searched for
approval and if he gets into a debate, it is not to seek new knowledge, but to show
people how well-spoken and learned he is. The difference between a sophist and a stoic
intellectual is that a sophist does it for the other to applaud him, and a stoic does
it for his own self, not worrying about others. And that is exactly what Epictetus wants from
us. Being driven by others’ approval only compromises
us as human beings. As a matter of fact, when you are this obsessed,
you’ll fear exploring new things and new horizons to grow as a person, for the only
reason that it might hurt your reputation. In our lifetime, whatever direction we’re
going to take, we’ll find those who’ll build us up, and those who’ll tear us down. However, there’s one way that might help
us avoid this, and that is by remaining static, not taking any direction, staying in place,
never moving forward. But what good really comes from this? In this situation, what’s the difference
between us, and a mere rock? Yes, we will continue to exist, but it’s
the journey that makes us special as human beings - it is what makes us grow and flourish
intellectually and even physically. Other people’s criticism or opinions about
us aren’t in our control and since they’re not in our control, one shouldn’t place
too much importance on them. Instead what is in your control is acceptance. We should accept that with every action we
take, we’ll be judged, maybe even laughed at, and that’s ok, if that’s the price
one has to pay to reach one’s goals. You should not fear taking actions that are
not coherent with what others do and instead explore the things that you want, the knowledge
that gets you going, and horizons that you want to travel beyond. 5. Get rid of the fear of death
In our final quote from Epictetus for this video, he says "I cannot escape death, but
at least I can escape the fear of it". Epictetus was not only a slave at first, but
also debilitatingly unwell. And thus, he had to learn to accept death
and embrace it as if it was lurking around every corner, because while we may ignore
it, death lurks nearby for all of us, on a daily basis. However, for Epictetus, all those who try
to escape death by not thinking about it, are only fueling the fear of it. If you really want to get rid of any fear,
you should look at it as if it’s standing right in front of you, and face it head-on. This is just as true for fear of death as
fear of anything else. For Epictetus, everything happens in our mind,
and if we could only direct it to see things differently, it would be free from many concerns. According to Epictetus, the key to getting
rid of the fear of death is changing our perception of it. It is very common to see people changing the
topic whenever death is brought up in a discussion. However, Epictetus urges us to change our
perception and start thinking about death frequently, even on a daily basis. Entertaining this idea of death in our mind
turns it into a normal event and thus, it alleviates the pressure related to its uncertainty
factor, and it is fair to say that this uncertainty is what makes us anxious. But it is essential to discuss death as you
would any other topic and not only reserve it for moments of grief and sadness. How we talk about it has consequences on how
we perceive it. For example, stoics perceive death as a reminder
that our life is short and we should make the most out of it, living every single moment
of it as if it’s the last. There’s a particular concept that talks
about this, known as Memento Mori, which means remember that you have to die. And for the stoics, the best thing you could
do to enjoy your life is to remember death. Every morning when you wake up, ask yourself
- If today was my last day, what would I be doing? This daily visualization about your death
can impact your actions significantly. You will start to look forward to maximizing
and making every single hour, minute, second count. And that’s the power of remembering death,
that’s the wisdom behind Memento Mori. It is the freedom from fear of death that
lets us explore our intellectual potential and thrive. And this freedom starts with just a mere change
of perception. Fearing death will only prevent us from living,
sleeping, and becoming who we could become. Fearing death will only stop us from thriving,
growing, and enjoying the journey of life. As mentioned at the beginning, this video
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