Stoicism is a revised term; its original name was ‘Zenonism’. But soon, this name was changed because the Stoics thought that the founders of this name were not wise enough. They feared that because of this name, there is a risk of the philosophy turning into a cult of personality.

Stoicism is basically thinking about right and wrong. A ton of questions that are asked in today’s world or the line of arguments that are made today can be found very much similar to the Stoic writings. Stoicism was one of the main schools of learning philosophy in ancient Athens. All the questions and answers that are talked about in stoicism are directed at one thing – happiness.

Stoic writings try to provide practical ways to achieve happiness through the way of Stoic principles. There are four main central ideas that stoicism promotes to practice happiness in a person’s life: value, emotions, nature, and control.

It is very much similar to meditation. People have to just think about the right things and hold on to them and leave all the other thoughts that are vague with the perspective of inner growth. It is just a method of cultivating good habits.

Stoics believed that whatever is going around a person has mattered less than how that person reacts to it. They recognized that a good life is far less concerned with the gifts that are bestowed upon a person, but the choices of the man that he/she takes when life is hard and offers no gifts. Every person is responsible for their lives and deserves what they have.

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Most of the rich people around are not happy with their lives. They have all the necessities covered and also have luxuries most people cannot afford, yet they are unhappy. It is because their lives are governed with one rule, the harder a person works, the more money they earn, and the happier they get. However, Stoics don’t believe in the material wealth to drive a person’s happiness for the long term.

Stoic writings show that they believed that there needs to be an element in a person’s life that is far much superior to any material and provides meaning. Any person can learn the method of stoics and apply it to his/her life. It is in theory to understand, but it will take a lot of practical work to actually implement it effectively. The bottom line is, it is doable.

Would you like to read more about this topic? This book might interest you: Psychology of Stoicism.