For the Stoics, the only thing that we have complete control over is our thoughts. It’s normal that we are constantly bombarded with perceptions because our brain is designed by nature to scan everything that we sense in the external world. This so-called “flight-or-fight” response is the same instinct we share with other animals that Mother Nature designed for our own survival. For example, if somebody tries to say something that would endanger our reputation we switch to fight mode to protect ourselves. However, this primitive gift sometimes goes out of control and leaves us in mental torture as in the case of anxiety. The thoughts of danger are bloated even though someone’s intention is completely opposite to what we perceive.
As Marcus Aurelius said” That things (external) have no hold on the soul. They stand there unmoving, outside it. Disturbance comes only from within—from our own perceptions.” Majority (if not all) of the things around only affects us if we operate in that irrational part of us that we share with other animals but if we use that rational mind that Mother Nature gifted us and makes use unique from other animals, nothing really can hurt us. Someone wanted to piss you off? Only if you allow to. Someone’s trying to bring you down? Only if you let them.
The key idea to this stoic practice is that no one can really affect you except yourself. Disturbances are not external by nature but internal. So if somethings bothering you try to take a pause, and use your rational mind to change your perception.
Top 10 Quotes About The Power To Change Your Perception From The Ancient Stoics
“Choose not to be harmed—and you won’t feel harmed. Don’t feel harmed—and you haven’t been.”
“That things have no hold on the soul. They stand there unmoving, outside it. Disturbance comes only from within—from our own perceptions.”
“That everything you see will soon alter and cease to exist. Think of how many changes you’ve already seen. The world is nothing but change. Our life is only perception.”
“Men are disturbed, not by things, but by the principles and notions which they form concerning things”
“People try to get away from it all—to the country, to the beach, to the mountains. You always wish that you could too. Which is idiotic: you can get away from it anytime you like. By going within.Nowhere you can go is more peaceful—more free of interruptions—than your own soul”
“People try to get away from it all—to the country, to the beach, to the mountains. You always wish that you could too. Which is idiotic: you can get away from it anytime you like. By going within.Nowhere you can go is more peaceful—more free of interruptions—than your own soul”
“Things have no hold on the soul. They have no access to it, cannot move or direct it. It is moved and directed by itself alone. It takes the things before it and interprets them as it sees fit.”
“The mind is that which is roused and directed by itself. It makes of itself what it chooses. It makes what it chooses of its own experience.”
“The mind is the ruler of the soul. It should remain unstirred by agitations of the flesh—gentle and violent ones alike. Not mingling with them, but fencing itself off and keeping those feelings in their place. When they make their way into your thoughts, through the sympathetic link between mind and body, don’t try to resist the sensation. The sensation is natural. But don’t let the mind start in with judgments, calling it “good” or “bad.”
“If someone put you in chains and put you in the custody of some random passerby, you would be angry. But if you give control of your mind to any random person who curses you, leaving you flustered, shouldn’t you be ashamed of that?”