According to the Atlantic today, there are two types of people: Epicureans and Stoics.
Epicureans:
Epicureans
see discomfort as generally negative, and thus the elimination of
threats and problems as the key to a happier life. Don’t get the
impression that I am saying they are lazy or unmotivated—quite the
contrary, in many cases. But they don’t see enduring fear and pain as
inherently necessary or beneficial, and they focus instead on enjoying
life.
Stoics:
...believed happiness comes from finding life’s purpose, accepting one’s
fate, and behaving morally regardless of the personal cost. His
philosophy could be summarized as, “Grow a spine and do your duty.”
People who follow a Stoic style see happiness as something earned
through a good deal of sacrifice. Not surprisingly, Stoics are generally
hard workers who live for the future and are willing to incur
substantial personal cost to meet their life’s purpose (as they see it)
without much complaining. They see the key to happiness as working
through pain and fear, not actively avoiding them.
I'm definitely in the Epicurean camp here; my philosophy is that life is so incredibly short that it is only to be enjoyed - both by finding joy for yourself, and trying to bring it to others (part of which is to simply avoid making life miserable for others). There is nothing I'm going to do that will last the next 13.6B years of the Universe, so it all should be enjoyed now. That doesn't mean a life of selfish decadence, but one of quiet enjoyment. I've always believed there's nothing better than laughing, except for making someone else laugh. It's a simpler life.
But I'm not sure I fall in line with this:
For Epicurus,
unhappiness came from negative thoughts, including needless guilt, fear
of things we can’t control, and a focus on the inevitable unpleasant
parts of life. The solution was to banish them from the mind. To this
end, he proposed a “four-part cure”:
Don’t fear God; don’t worry about death; what is good is easy to get
(by lowering our expectations for what we need to be happy); what is
terrible is easy to endure (by concentrating on pleasant things even in
the midst of suffering). This is made all the easier when we surround
ourselves with friendly people in a peaceful environment.
There is a bit of Larry David to me - I worry about death way too much, I always think the sky is falling, I always assume the world's against me and nothing is ever easy etc etc.
Sorry people, I guess I'm just one super-complex motherfucker!
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| Enjoy the McNuggets now, Xmastime...and I will see you in Hell!! Just kidding, as you already know the man least dependent upon the morrow goes to meet the morrow most cheerfully. |
