How do we cope with tough times? Do we crumble and collapse or is there a way through?
Listen to Christine Lambey tell the story of Epictetus a superhero to guide us.
‘It is not events that disturb people, it is their judgements concerning them.”
Albert Ellis, a 20th century psychologist, was drawing on Epictetus when he pinpointed three areas of rigid expectation that people often have:
1. We expect ourselves to perform outstandingly well at all times.
2. We expect others to treat us nicely all the time.
3. We expect life to go smoothly all the time.
When there’s a clash between the expectations we hold and the events as they unfold, we can become very unhappy. Instead of these expectations, we could say, ‘I don’t like how this person treated me, but I can bear it’ etc.
Epictetus said, ‘By managing our judgements and our impressions, we have flexibility.’ This is not just enduring hard times or repression. It’s about managing our inner reactions and what we tell ourselves.
The School of Philosophy offers courses in practical philosophy and economics with justice as well as other subjects. It aims to approach philosophy in a practical way, encouraging students to apply philosophy in their lives. The School also introduces a mindfulness-type exercise leading eventually to mantra meditation.
