According To The Stoics, Everything That Happens To Us Is Perfect
According to the Stoic philosophers and those related to this philosophical current, there is a universal order that governs everything that happens. In other words, all events that occur are perfect. And this, one way or another. We can also say that only what has to happen happens and what will happen will happen. Among those who have defended this point of view are great thinkers such as Seneca and Marcus Aurelius.
But beware ! The perfection of which these philosophers speak does not, however, mean a total absence of errors, gaps or difficulties. What it is alluding to is a form of coherence in which each element plays a specific role. There would therefore be an internal logic in the events which always ends up manifesting itself.
On this point, the Stoics approach Eastern philosophies and many religions. Everything that happens is perfect because it fulfills a destiny. Not necessarily a fate written in advance, but rather a fate shaped by an infinity of circumstances. These circumstances then combine to give birth to whatever happens to us then.
What happens is perfect
There are a whole series of circumstances that mark our destiny. And this, from our birth. First, just being born is not a personal choice. Next, the composition of our genetic heritage is not the result of a deliberate choice by the wearer either. Thus, we are born for example a man or a woman. We can see that all of this already constitutes a vast series of circumstances which greatly determines our life.
Added to this is the fact that we do not choose the parents who bring us into the world. We also do not choose our nationality, our social class, our family or our immediate environment. We also have no control over the historical period in which we are born. These multiple conditioning factors are totally beyond our control.
In addition, and as if all this were not enough, our destiny is also shaped to a large extent by the place we occupy in our siblings and by the physical and emotional state in which our parents find themselves as we come to birth. world. Finally, later on, the education we receive will not depend on us either. For the Stoics, everything that happens is perfect, as it results in a unique and exclusive way of life.
The importance of acceptance according to the Stoics
Obviously, many of these initial conditions that we sometimes call “fate” contain contradictions, difficulties and problems. However, they also chart a specific and unique path that each of us must follow, based on our own particularities. Everything that happens is then perfect, because it all develops the very essence of who we are.
The mistake is to assume that there are universal models or paradigms for all human beings. There is also no ideal time to be born, nor ideal parents. Moreover, none of the other circumstances can be free from contradiction. Not realizing it leads to an absurd mismatch.
It is indeed absurd because it is useless to revolt against the impossible. You can deny a lot of things, but that doesn’t change anything in the end. In fact, the better we learn to accept this unique and exclusive reality that we experience, the less we are exposed to suffering. It’s as if a rose rebels against its nature for the simple reason of not being a carnation. It would be ridiculous.
To accept, however, is not to resign oneself
Neither Seneca nor the other philosophers from the Stoic movement believed that the acceptance of our unique destiny corresponded to a form of resignation. And even less to a bitter resignation which would then lead to a feeling of helplessness. Rather, they advocated that we open our arms to whatever happens to us, considering that whatever happens is perfect. And this, to celebrate this mystery that makes each of us totally unique in this world.
However, we have some leeway. It is certainly reduced, but nevertheless, it exists. It manifests itself in the possibility of choosing one way or another, one action or another. And this, at different times of life.
The Stoics insist that acceptance of the universal order is fully realized when we no longer deny the results of our actions. On the contrary, there is total acceptance when we regard the consequences of our choices as revelations. Signs that everything that happened was therefore perfect.
Finally, what we are and what we do with our life has no merit if we only look at our achievements. All of this has an inherent value because it is the expression of an already largely predetermined destiny. Our mission is to try to understand this fate. Only then can we give it direction and above all accept with gratitude what it has to offer us.
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