by Phil Van Treuren

The founder of Stoicism was a guy named Zeno of Citium. He was a rich merchant, but he lost everything he owned when his ship got hit by a storm and sank.

After Zeno made it back to shore alive, he decided to study philosophy. He eventually realized that the greatest power we have as human beings is our ability to choose how we respond to stuff that we can’t change.

Zeno didn’t have control over the storm that sank his boat, but he did have the ability to choose how his fate would define him. He decided that losing everything would be an opportunity, NOT a tragedy.

founder of stoicism zeno

As a human being, you have the exact same ability to choose how you’re going to define every challenge that you face. Don’t get distracted or discouraged by stuff happening around you that you have no control over.

Remember: ships don’t sink because of the water that surrounds them; they sink because of the water that gets inside of them. Don’t let what’s going on around you get inside and weigh you down.