Tranquility, for Stoic philosophers, is a choice (if not an easy one). Surprisingly, in his Discourses, Epictetus argues that there are only five spiritual exercises to achieve that tranquility in the face of fear and anxiety.

It’s definitely a complicated thing to explain. It’s really weird that our brain decides our mood, kinda randomly decides that certain things make us happy or not, and it’s separate from what we think logically would or could make us happy.

Going to school feels dull, they try to cram facts into a human and it doesn’t trigger the right learning process, kids can’t keep up, get lower tier jobs and become miserable, some become happy with these jobs. Some kids just can remember more with less repetition so they’re naturally smart, they get good grades, they might end up making a lot of money, but still can be stuck miserable and not know why. A few end up as the elites, they do the most with the least effort and everyone thinks they’re mostly happy about it.

And this is the design of western society, it’s logical, but not everyone who’s at the top is happy, and not everyone at the bottom is miserable, it really seems like there’s something more going on. Maybe that’s just my logic thinking, and feeling happy all the time is not even realistic, so maybe that literally means some are meant to be miserable

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