Jolly Good Planet

Mental strength, in Stoic philosophy , is not hardness or endurance. It is knowing what is up to you and what is not. Control your choices, words, and actions. Accept what you cannot change. And pause before reacting, so that you respond instead. Strength begins in that one breath. Control what you can. Accept what you can't. Respond, never react. How Do I Become Mentally Strong? A Stoic Answer We almost always picture strength as something loud. A clenched jaw, a raised voice, a person who wins the argument, outlasts the rival, and never admits to being tired. We admire the oak that does not bend. But anyone who has lived long enough has seen what happens to the oak in the storm, and what happens to the reed. The Stoics, who thought about this question for five hundred years, from the painted porch in Athens to the military tents of the Danube, arrived at an answer that sounds almost too modest. Mental strength, they said, is not the ability to endure everything. It is the abilit...