We all have things happen to us. Some are great while others are not so good. But, what if we were able to make ourselves unstoppable by using our current situation, either good or bad, as fuel to our #Relentless fire.
I for one have a good knack for getting myself into situations where I’m uncomfortable, stressed, and generally not happy. Honestly, I find myself there right now.
I hit the snooze on my alarm for over 2 hours. (I wake up much earlier to complete my personal tasks for the day before my real job.) I dreaded seeing the sunshine not because I slept like shit but because it means another stressful ass day is about to ensue.
It’s day 10 of 19 days straight of 9 hour days consisting of selling. Sales can be unpredictable and stress a mother-fucker out if it’s based on numbers, which it always is; it’s sales, after all. That’s the only thing that matters.
As you could’ve probably guessed by my tone, sales haven’t been exactly what I would have liked them to be the past several days. It’s been incredibly frustrating and I’ve taken it quite personally.
I’m not sure what I most angry about… it’s either that things aren’t going my way and I’m getting all pissy like a 2 year old who’s socks are the wrong color green OR that I find myself back in sales after telling myself I would never go back.
Probably the later but I’m not completely writing off the former.
I know when 9 AM hits today, the rat race will begin all again. The pressure will be on. There’s a few quotes that I typically refer to when dealing with pressure.
“Pressure’s for tires.”
“No pressure. No diamonds.”
I’m not sure who to credit those quotes to but just know that they’re not mine. The first one I discuss in my book so I’ll forgo it here and skip to the second.
Pressure is necessary to form diamonds but too much pressure just disintegrates everything. There’s a fine line and it’s difficult to walk.
So, what’s the answer?
I haven’t a fuckin’ clue. But perhaps, Stoicism can provide us with some things to ponder and potentially see how we can actually benefit from these types of situations.
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Amor Fati is a latin phrase that translates to “love of fate.”
The stoics would say that we mustn’t wish things to be better or worse but accept them exactly how they are. A weaker person needs things to be a certain way. An unstoppable, relentless person loves it all because it’s fuel and it drives them.
We should embrace them and make what we can out of these difficult situations. Amor fati would have us love our fates no matter how they turn out. If we treated every single challenge as a moment to be embraced and learned from, instead of trying to avoid it, we can gain strength, mental fortitude, and further improve our discipline.
What if we could actually love these situations?
We certainly don’t get to choose what happens to us in life. However, we do get to choose how to respond.
What benefit comes from dread?
None.
It’ll certainly be difficult to embrace this skill and view everything as an opportunity for growth. There will still be times of utter-frustration.
I certainly don’t expect these few paragraphs of Stoicism to completely change my outlook in half an hour. But, that’s where we have to start. We must practice these things in the real world, in real situations.
There is not much benefit from the other side. Viewing things in a negative way and complaining about the way things are never got anything accomplished.
So, although I’ll be on the verge of frustration, probably all day, I will treat the day as an opportunity to embrace and make the best out of whatever comes my way.
I mean, when it really boils down to it…. what other choice do we have?
