Our Hidden Power

The Daily Stoic for September 7th, “Our Hidden Power”.

“Consider who you are. Above all, a human being, carrying no greater power than your own reasoned choice, which oversees all other things, and is free from any other master.”
—EPICTETUS, DISCOURSES, 2.10.1

“Your hidden power is your ability to use reason and make choices, however limited or small.”. Yes, that’s true. I have written before about how we are never too old to change your lives, or why we always have a choice to say no and to what we don’t want in our lives.

Our Hidden Power

In the end, today’s daily stoic is all about moving on. Whatever happens, whatever situation we find ourselves in, we can always choose. Maybe the set of options we have is limited or restricted by others, our situation, or by external events. But we can always choose.

Sometimes it’s risky, or scary. Sometimes we are so deep into something that we think it’s our “fate”. Or we think we deserve to be where we are. We may not see a way out because the trees won’t let us see the forest. But there’s always something we can do.

If you don’t like your life, change it. It takes courage, but all of us can do it. It may not be easy, of course, and probably not as simple as saying it out loud. But it’s the first step.

Today’s stoic focus on the story of Viktor Frankl, a psychologist that spent 3 years imprisoned in Nazi concentration camps, after his whole family was killed. I don’t think you need to use such extreme example. It’s not the desperate situations that make it difficult for you. Conversely, I think that it’s just when we are not happy, but “comfortable”, when these decisions are harder to make.

Conclusion

Today’s Daily Stoic, “Our Hidden Power”, discusses our ability to change and choose, whatever the situation. There’s always room for changing and taking a decision that may change our lives.