Comment on Open Thread, June 2-15, 2013

Wed, 05 Jun 2013 13:19:47 GMT

You can't control whether or not the girl will hit or insult you. As a result hoping that she would do one of those things goes against stoicist ideals.

It's much better to seek out-of-comfort zone experiences where you can control that you have the experience. Instead of depending on the bully in the bus to provide an experience in which you can grow you can go and have fun dancing in the bus.

A year ago I was in a personal development seminar that's partly about improving one's charisma and finding the courage to do what one likes.

At the end of the day there's live music and most people just sit there listening and watching the musicians. I went and danced in alone in front of >200 people because I felt like dancing. I got a bunch of positive social feedback for it.

Stoicism doesn't have to be about having no fun and doing nothing. It's rather about reducing negative emotions.

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