How to live worry free

I recently received a beautiful package in the mail. It was from a dear friend with whom I used to work – we were Sydney magazine girls working on the glossies together, all high heels and diaries chocked full like a New Year’s Eve party bar fridge. In other words, we were stress heads of the tallest order.

Inside this delightful package were three magazines, all new titles recently released in Australia. I was drawn to one right away – a philosophy mag, produced right here. How very French of us!

The magazine included an article on the Stoics, a school of philosophy that was founded in Athens in 300BC by a Cyprian bloke called Zeno.

The article outlined how Stoic principles can be used today to boost happiness – perhaps, it argued, these ideas even more effective and relevant now because so much of the world seems out of our control. In other, we know more about things going on outside of our heads.

I’ve been trying to weave these ideas into my daily life, and have even made a commitment to perform a ‘morning meditation’ in line with the meditation I’m already practicing.

Here are the 3 basic Stoic principles that help you soothe stress and clear your head of stress, as outlined by the University of Exeter in the UK .

1. Your mind is all that (really) matters

Money and success do not bring lasting happiness, although they can form part of a ‘good life’. What does bring happiness is an excellent mental state, defined by clear thinking. Ergo: put effort into developing top-notch headspace.

2. Beware of negative emotions

Negative emotions often spring from the fact we believe something bad is about to happen, which is in itself a ‘judgment’ – i.e., something that is within your control.

If you approach life as a series of ‘facts’ rather than ‘judgments’, you can replace a negative emotion with a positive one.

Another tip is to apply the ‘so what’ principle. ‘I’m not going to get my assignment/document in on time’ becomes… ‘So what if I’m not going to get my document in on time?’ This encourages you to look at what the consequences of an action may be. And to ask yourself whether they will really be that bad.

Mind you, I am not encouraging you to get your work in late! But rather just to think about the anxiety that you may be causing yourself by things that may not spell the end of the earth.

3. Love nature and accept only what is within your control

Recognise that you’re part of a large whole that includes all the elements of nature. Also acknowledge that each of us is small in comparison to nature’s expanse.

Finally, the Stoics argue that much unhappiness arises from trying to control things which we think are within our control, but actually are not.

In fact, the only thing within your control is the state of your mind. This means you can choose how to react to things. Worry is, believe it or not, a choice.

These principles are very similar to those suggested by Buddhism. What do you think?