Stoicism Journal: Staying Centered in Dark Times
Coastal Landscape with Shipping in a Tempestuous Sea by Peter van de Velde
It is easy to look at the current state of things in the U.S. and fear for the future of this country. We seem to be entering a season where the impulses of retribution, greed, and power-seeking threaten to overshadow our collective better angels of kindness, patience, and generosity.
When the bleakness of this historical moment feels like too much, I have found power in asking myself a simple question: Where is my energy best spent?
THE TRAP OF “WHAT IF?”
Investing time in worrying about the millions of ways the future could go wrong is more than just stressful—it is counterproductive. Every moment spent in a "what if" cycle is a moment stolen from the work of protecting, preserving, and enhancing the things that are realistically within my sphere of influence.
Marcus Aurelius wrote: "Never let the future disturb you. You will meet it, if you have to, with the same weapons of reason which today arm you against the present."
AVOIDING SELF-FULLFILLING PROPHECIES
There is a thin line that I try to keep in focus between concern and despair. Concern allows for preparation; despair leads to paralysis. If I allow my fear of dark times to strip me of my patience, kindness, and generosity today, then I have already let the darkness win. I have effectively become the very thing I fear.
To avoid this self-fulfilling prophecy, I am practicing how to breath and return to the NOW. Doing this, I can focus my energy by asking myself:
Is there someone I can help?
Is there a project I can work on and throw my energy into?
Can I model to my kids what patience and charity looks like in a loud and angry world?
THE POWER OF THE PRESENT
The past is a ghost, and the the future is a possibility; only this present moment is true reality. By cultivating spaces for the better angels in my own life—my home, my neighborhood, my work—I am working to build up bulwarks founded on true strength and character that no passing moment or season can easily topple. Concern for the future is perfectly natural, but I will not let it steal my time, obligation, and energy for the present.