I personally had adopted this way of thinking in my earlier years in the military, before i had a true sense of what I wanted out of life. It was the only way I could cope with the insane amount of "bullcrap" for a lack of better terms. The constant unknown of missions coming down and the lengthy deployments. All I could tell myself was I signed up and there is nothing I can do about it now. That way of thinking eventually landed me in my opinion in an even worse state of well being. I eventually stopped caring altogether about self improvement and didn't have a grasp of my self worth. Is constantly making the best of a bad situation really a good situation at all? Are you just sugar coating or is the situation really getting better with a simple switch of mind set. These are questions that I started asking myself, well one day I found my answer and it was hindering me. Not only as a soldier but as a person. I started accepting less than for myself and for my future because I assumed that's the way it was and I should just learn to love it. I soon found that changing the situation such as my job title and acquiring higher ranks gave me more control over my situation in turn giving me direct control of my happiness.
Another personal story that I rarely ever share was my last marriage. I was in a situation that in most peoples eyes was ideal. I had the perfect little home and seemingly everything but was not internally happy. After all that is what really matters right? So here I am in another situation where taking the good of the situation would still end in misery. I decided to not make the best of the situation, we are now divorced and rather good friends. It's acceptable I think to apply the idea of Stoicism to some facets of life but the larger more self destructive situations I believe in making a real change, something tangible. Yes our minds are strong, but I truly believe in order to grow one must be well mind, body, and soul.
I could possibly be wrong, but in my personal experience taking life by the horns and leading life will make you a lot happier than letting life lead you. I rather be a rock constantly fighting than water not knowing where I'm flowing even if the ocean is beautiful. After all we only have one life, why not live it on your terms. Id hate to look back and see nothing but compromise and no chances taken because of a "seemingly permanent situation." Life is so beautiful and is ever changing, I plan on changing with it.
Word count (509)
I would like to do a peer response to your post as it's very intriguing to me.
ReplyDeleteTotal number of words in the post:
ReplyDelete524
Spelling errors:
None.
Grammatical errors:
You forgot to use hyphens in some of your words. For example, "well-being," "self-improvement," "self-worth," and "self-destructive." Also forgot a couple apostrophes in the words, "People's," and "I'd." Lastly, a comma after "Yes," in "Yes, our minds are strong..."
Lack of clarity:
I understood you completely.
Organization of ideas:
Your ideas flowed very well. I like the fact that you started off already having an opinion of your own question saying, " I ask this question because the "feeling and acceptance of not being in control," sounds a bit more like giving up or going with the old "whatever happens; happens." Then you follow it up with your personal experiences as to why you feel this way, when you were in the military.
Did the author answer their question?
Yes, he realized he started to accept less for himself as a whole because he assumed that's just the way things are. Because of this realization, he started to take action and said, "I soon found that changing the situation such as my job title and acquiring higher ranks gave me more control over my situation in turn giving me direct control of my happiness." Meaning that we as people can end up in better situations with our lives if we, "take life by the horns," as the author states as well.
Did the author provide a concrete example that clearly illustrates their main point?
The author provided several examples that illustrates his main point. First, by telling the reader about his thought process in the military. Then, by informing us of his experience with marriage where he follows up with, "It's acceptable I think to apply the idea of Stoicism to some facets of life but the larger more self destructive situations I believe in making a real change, something tangible."
How does the author’s concrete example illustrate or not illustrate their main point?
The author's examples illustrate his main point by proving through his experiences that accepting whatever happens in life is not always something worth settling for.
Do you agree or disagree with the author’s answer and why?
I agree with the author because I personally have gone through a "whatever happens; happens," phase and found myself to be in rather negative conditions as well. I like the way he put it by saying, "Yes our minds are strong, but I truly believe in order to grow one must be well mind, body, and soul."
What is a concrete example that clearly illustrates why you agree or disagree with the author?
"I could possibly be wrong, but in my personal experience taking life by the horns and leading life will make you a lot happier than letting life lead you." and, "I rather be a rock constantly fighting than water not knowing where I'm flowing even if the ocean is beautiful."
What is your explanation of how your concrete example clearly illustrates your reason for why you agree or disagree with the author?
I used his two quotes as concrete examples because the first one discusses how it is better to do something about your life than to accept what is happening. To me that says you have to work hard to get to a better place with your life. The second example tells me to not give up. You're more likely to make something of yourself if you try. You can't expect everything to be handed to you on a silver platter and be happy with it too.
Thank you for your honest and thorough assessment of my work. I am happy to see that you agree with my stance. I’m sure most people have reached a similar point in their life as you said you did. I think it’s a matter of what we do after reaching that point that really defines us as a person.
DeleteNice peer-review the Almighty Olympus.
DeleteBlog Post 1 (The Philosopher King to The Rationalist, and Your Life)
ReplyDeleteIs living life by the idea of Stoicism hindering you or helping you? I ask this question because the "feeling and acceptance of not being in control[delete comma]" sounds a bit more like giving up or going with the old "whatever happens; happens."
I personally had adopted this way of thinking in my earlier years in the military, before i [I] had a true sense of what I wanted out of life. It was the only way I could cope with the insane amount of "bullcrap" for a lack of better terms. The constant unknown of missions coming down and the lengthy deployments. All I could tell myself was I signed up and there is nothing I can do about it now. That way of thinking eventually landed me[,] in my opinion[,] in an even worse state of well being. I eventually stopped caring altogether about [self-improvement] and didn't have a grasp of my [self-worth]. Is constantly making the best of a bad situation really a good [situation]←(I’m not sure if you really want to use the word ‘situation’? Perhaps, but what do you think about ‘strategy’ rather than ‘situation’? If you change decide to go with ‘strategy,’ you should also delete the ‘at all.’)→[at all]? Are you just sugar coating [things] or is the situation really getting better with a simple switch of [your] mind set. These are questions that I started asking myself[.] [W]ell one day I found my answer[,] and it was [that such a mind-set was] hindering me. Not only as a soldier but [also] as a person. I started accepting less than []←(You are missing a word or phrase here in oreder to complete the ‘less than…’ thought. ‘Less than’ is always ‘less than something,’ so you need to tell us what that something is. Perhaps something like, ‘what was good’?) for myself and for my future because I assumed [that] that's the way it was and [that] I should just learn to love it. I soon found that changing the situation [(]such as my job title and acquiring higher ranks[)] gave me more control over my situation[,] in turn giving me direct control of my happiness.
Another personal story that I rarely ever share was my last marriage. I was in a situation that in most people[‘]s eyes was ideal. I had the perfect little home and seemingly everything [else,] but [I] was not internally happy. After all [that]←(What do you mean by ‘that’? Stay away from using pronouns in your post. Using pronouns often detracts from the clarity of a student’s writing rather than adds to it.) is what really matters right? So here I am [was] in another situation where taking the good of the situation would still end in misery. I decided [not] to not make the best of [out of] the situation[.] [W]e are now divorced and rather good friends. It's acceptable I think to apply the idea of Stoicism to some facets of life[,] but the larger more self destructive situations I believe in making a real change [with larger more self-destructive situations], [something tangible.]←(I’m not exactly sure what this clause is supposed to be doing. Are you giving us more details on the larger, more self-destructive situations? If so, why wouldn’t the other smaller facets be tangible?) Yes our minds are strong, but I truly believe in order to grow one must be well [in] mind, body, and soul.
[I could possibly be wrong, but in my personal experience[,] taking life by the horns and leading life will make you a lot happier than letting life lead you. I [would] rather be a rock constantly fighting than water not knowing where I'm flowing even if the ocean is beautiful. After all we only have one life, why not live it on your terms. I[‘]d hate to look back and see nothing but compromise and no chances taken because of a "seemingly permanent situation." Life is so beautiful and is ever changing, I plan on changing with it.]←(Although I agree with your perspective on things (see my comments here http://philosophyexplorer.blogspot.com/2016/02/blog-post-one-philosopher-king-to.html#comment-form), sometimes I wonder if this way of understanding our situations in life is somewhat of an elitist perspective. I wonder if for some people it makes sense to adopt a Stoic attitude. For example, consider the life of a young woman who lives somewhere in the world where woman are treated as property. Furthermore, let’s say her family sold her to another family as a slave in order to pay for something that her family desperately needed. Let us also say that her situation is such that there is no way for her to change her circumstances. She is and always will be a slave to the family who purchased her. For someone in such a situation, do you think it would be problematic for us to suggest that this young woman should not settle for the life she has? Should we suggest that she should do whatever she can to change her circumstances even if we know that whatever she does, it will not change her circumstances and her efforts would simply have been wasted? To be honest, I’m not sure. I think most Americans might want to say that she should still try to change her circumstances because, who knows, maybe she will end up bringing about some change for the better; but this suggests that people should never settle for an unfavorable circumstance as long as there is only a very slim chance that things could be different, and I wonder if this slim chance really is enough for us to end up encouraging people to struggle for change. Also, what if things would actually be even worse off for this young woman if she decided to take life by the horns and change her circumstances? What if she could have been a happy slave as long as she happily accepted her circumstances and willingly did what her owners told her to do; but if she went against her owner’s will, she would have a miserable life of torture and forced subjugation? What would you say to her?)
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