Chronic worriers tend to be more concerned about the future than present circumstances. During the day, and even during the night, their thoughts wander in the mysterious realm of what is yet to come, plotting, planning, and calculating how to deal with whatever unfortunate fate may arise.
But even though they wish to control the future, they have never exceeded the limits of the present. This is because the future does not exist except in our minds. We cannot live in the future and we cannot predict it. Sure, we can plan for things that might happen, but the present usually unfolds in different and often surprising ways.
Yet many of us fixate our attention on the unknown and endlessly fantasize about how things we can't predict will present themselves to us. Seneca observed this phenomenon in his friend Lucilius as well as in those around him. He counterattacked this often tedious and destructive stance toward the illusory realm of the future with Stoic reasoning, explaining why worrying about it is pointless and advising us on what to do instead.
This video (Why Worry About What's Not Real? Seneca's Philosophy for Ending Worry) explores Seneca's antidotes for worry and unfounded fears.
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Creative Commons (attributions):
Seneca 01: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Duble_herma_of_Socrates_and_Seneca_Antikensammlung_Berlin_07.jpg
(Pseudo) Seneca 02: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Pseudo-Seneca_Louvre_Ma921.jpg
(Pseudo) Seneca 03: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:0_Portrait_de_S%C3%A9n%C3%A8que_d%27apr%C3%A8s_l%27antique_-_Lucas_Vorsterman.JPG
Seneca 04: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/53/Seekers_after_God_%281868%29_%2814778381082%29.jpg
Seneca 05: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:C%C3%B3rdoba_2015_10_23_2668_(25945264960)_(cropped).jpg
Seneca 06: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Seneca_committing_suicide_in_his_bath._Etching_by_C._Galle._Wellcome_V0006944.jpg
00:00 – Introduction
01:40 – Unfounded fears
04:08 – Are your sufferings real or imaginary?
07:29 – Even bad luck is fickle
#Seneca #disturbing #stoicism
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