Doors Close, Windows Open

It Is What It Is

"We cannot change anything unless we accept it. Condemnation does not liberate, it oppresses."     Carl Jung

I returned to my seat on the end of the second row and looked out the window. The field was empty now and the autumn breeze caressed my cheeks with a softness that reminded me of when I was very young. Daddy would read night-night stories and then give my cheek a gentle stroke or two before planting a kiss on my forehead with a "goodnight, goodnight don't let the bed bugs bite." 

Squirrels scurried up and down tree branches as they collected and stored provisions in nests in preparation for the impending winter. Not that winters in this part of the country were all that harsh. Try living through a Chicago winter I thought, as a loud, chattering squirrel scampered down the tree. I redirected my attention to the blackboard. Dr. Soren had written down some things that I wanted to capture in my notebook.

     * Stoic philosophy held that the way to a right life was by living in accord with nature

     * The only things that are up to us are our opinions, judgments and attitudes

     * Things in the outer world – such as the types of parents we have, our positions at work or in society, or our economic situations - are not up to us and thus, are indifferent. That is, these external things should not dictate who we are or how we live.

     * Nothing bad by nature happens. The universe as a whole is perfect and complete, and everything has it's place in the overall design of life.

     * Since nothing in the external world is good or bad – it is our judgments make them so. External events we may describe as painful are "indifferent"

     * The Stoics believed that to live well, we must accept life as it is

     * Set sights on having what you already have, rather than wanting what you do not have, and you will live a satisfied life

Dr Soren was pacing the front of the room until the clock hit 11:15. Then he said, "I've written some things on the board, some of which we discussed and some simply illuminate Stoic philosophy. If you have a question..."

Shruti, a petite Indian girl who had been silent class thus far, spoke up.

"Dr. Soren, I want to comment on this passage, page thirteen, verse eight, where Epictetus writes, 'Do not seek to have events happen as you want them to, but instead want them to happen as they do happen, and your life will go well.' I think that's what Adam was saying. Can you imagine what our world would be like if more people could take pleasure in our lives as they are rather than as we wish them to be? What if more of us could accept our work, life, and appearance without the need to alter and change all the time?"

"The plastic surgeons and lawyers would be out of business," Polina added with a smile. We laughed with her.

"Ha, indeed Polina," Dr. Soren said, also smiling. "Raphael.  I see your hand is up, what would you like to add?"

"That seems like a lazy way to live. I don't agree with a philosophy that asks us to settle, to accept things as they are, rather than strive to make things better. If accepting things as they are were a valid approach, why would people protest injustice, why would we change things for the better, why would inventors invent? In short, why would anybody to anything that makes the world a better place?"

"Your point, Mr. Dominguez?"

"My point is this. If our ancestors had accepted the world as it was, who knows if the wheel would have been invented? The wheel eventually to the cart and then to the car. How about the personal computer? There was no such thing as computers in my grandmother's day and now, we can't function without them. One reason we've advanced so quickly in the last century has been a pioneering spirit of dissatisfaction with the current state in search of something better."