Preparing For Disaster
An excerpt from Letters from a Stoic finds philosopher Seneca writing about a man whose town was destroyed by a fire. “It is a disaster by which anyone might be shaken,” Seneca writes, “let alone a person quite devoted to his hometown.” One of the perhaps less-highlighted attributes of the more prominent Stoics was their empathy—their understanding and acknowledgement of the human’s natural reaction to life’s dealings.
Accordingly, Seneca recognizes the validity of this man’s devastation. What he also recognizes is something quite profound as we consider our own emotional responses to what we’d perceive as misfortune: “What is quite unlooked for is more crushing in its effect, and unexpectedness adds to the weight of a disaster. The fact that it was unforeseen has never failed to intensify a person’s grief.”
The unexpectedness of an event intensifies it. What philosophy affords us is the opportunity to preemptively reduce the weight of disaster by becoming the person who can productively respond to any perceived disaster now. Philosophy is training that enables us, per Epictetus, to treat any one of life's challenges as a sparring partner.
May all difficult matters we face be sharpeners along our way.
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