In my quest of living a life that is actually worth living, I have come across many ideas and philosophies. The one that appealed to me the most was the philosophy of stoicism.

Stoicism is an ancient philosophy that has been implemented by many successful people to make their lives meaningful. From George Washington to Arnold Schwarzenegger, there are many renowned people around the world who have attributed most of their success to stoicism.

What many people fail to understand is that we are not given a short life. It’s just that we waste most of it. The ultimate way to make your life a meaningful one is by doing work that is truly meaningful to you.

Stoicism asks us not to complain about things that are not in anyone’s hands. We waste valuable time complaining about things that are beyond our control – like the shortness of life. “Why is nature so cruel to us?” some may say. But nature is not cruel; nor has it cursed us with a short life in which it’s impossible to achieve anything.

It is not nature that has made life short but us who make it short by complaining about it all the time. So the first and most important thing to do to make our life meaningful is to stop complaining about things that no one can control. This is what the great stoics have taught us.

Another thing that stoicism teaches us is to have a positive outlook on basically everything. It is unfortunate that bad things happen to you. But it is fortunate that these things have happened to you and you still stand unharmed like the rock in the middle of the sea which remains unmoved despite countless waves hitting it from all sides.

Thinking calmly in a stressful situation is one of the greatest traits of a stoic. Stoicism asks us not to speak and act more than what is necessary. This is widely misinterpreted as being an introvert or not having any opinions. However what it really means is – if we have something in our mind that may offend someone on a personal level then it is better to keep it to ourselves. There are so many aspects to stoicism. It is a very idealistic philosophy and is very hard to live by. However, one can choose the aspects that they can agree with and try to implement them in their lives. As a matter of fact, stoicism is a practical philosophy that you can use in life.

Control what you can and accept what you can’t. Learn to take hurdles in life and turn them to your advantage.