Advice from a stoic emperor, a general, and an author relearning how to walk.
1 day ago·7 min read
As a human being it’s inevitable we’ll be dealing with stress in some form. Our hunter-gatherer ancestors dealt with the stress of finding food, shelter, and dealing with predators. Nowadays, food is plentiful. Fortunately, saber-tooth tigers aren’t, but the predator of stress still stalks us and threatens to do us in.
Dr. Lauren Florko in Psychology Today mentions a study from the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health confirming this. Apparently 26% to 40% of the North American workforce is “extremely stressed or burned out”. Gloomy news, huh?
So, despite having a simpler life than our predecessors, we’re still stressed. It leads you to the question: how did our ancestors do it and can we do the same thing. The answer to that question is a resounding yes. We also have some all-star stress management teachers who can show us the way.
- Marcus Aurelius dealt with nothing but stress and kept his empire together while maintaining his stoic nature.
- Dwight Eisenhower led the entire Allied war effort in WWII without being one of those burnout statistics.
- Author Robert Greene lost the ability to walk after a stroke, yet somehow maintained his composure and productivity.
These are true instances of stress. What’s more, our teachers handled them with grace and expertise which is worthy of study. So, how do we handle the stress that surrounds us? Surprisingly, there’s a calm eye to the storm closer than you can ever imagine.
We Can Get Away Without Going Away
“People try to get away from it all — to the country, to the beach, to the mountains. You always wish that you could too. Which is idiotic: you can get away from it anytime you like. By going within. Nowhere you can go is more peaceful — more free of interruptions — than your own soul…An instant’s recollection and there it is: complete tranquility.”
— Marcus Aurelius, “Meditations”, Gregory Hayes Translation
The words above are likely written in 180 AD, but the idea about “getting away” is often mouthed by a stressed worker in the present day. How many times have you wished you could get away? Ideas of a calm beach and umbrella drink may float in your daydreams. Likely ancient Romans did the same thing.
However, one thing the emperor couldn’t do was “get away” — his chaotic times and life allowed no time for a lavish vacation. As Donald Robertson explains in his book “How to Think Like A Roman Emperor”, Marcus dealt with nonstop stressful personal and job-related issues.
- He lost 7 of his 13 children prematurely.
- One of his friends attempted to dethrone him by armed rebellion and a letter from his own wife may have started the attempt.
- The Antonine Plague ravaged the empire. It’s thought to have killed nearly 10% of Rome’s 75 million people at the time.
- A “friendly” German tribe rebelled and attacked the empire, forcing Marcus to live most of his late and sickly life at Spartan-like battle camps.
Now, this is a stressful life. However, Marcus never turned into one of those horrific Roman tyrants you see portrayed in movies. So, how did he do it?
As Marcus himself points out in his journal, he found a way to get away into his own mind. The journal he carried, which became Meditations, was his get away. As he himself mentioned, it only took an instance to escape to “complete tranquility”.
While he didn’t leave a detailed explanation, the emperor shows he could escape his chaotic world without physically leaving. This is the ultimate discovery for us in the present day. We don’t have to jump on a plane and go somewhere to escape the ever-present stress. A peaceful get away and place for renewal is much closer than we can ever imagine.
Control Can Renew Us
During an interview on the AOM podcast, author Alex Soojung Kim-Pang explains how we can relax in our modern crazy world. In particular, he focuses on General Dwight “Ike” Eisenhower. Being supreme Allied Commander, he’d have to navigate politicians, prima donna generals from multiple nations, and the battlefield on multiple fronts. Talk about stressful.
Kim-Pang says Ike’s boss George Marshall told him specifically he’d need a way to deal with stress or it’d be his undoing. The general found it in a small house called “Telegraph Cottage” outside of London. On occasion, Eisenhower disappeared to this place with no telephone for short recharges.
However, Kim-Pang says the location wasn’t the important part. What the general did there helped him to renew himself. Instead of devoting himself to the stakeholders in the war, he had control. Often cooking for himself, reading a cowboy novel, golfing, or going for a walk were his method of escape and renewal.
The sense of regained control is what helped Eisenhower relieve the built-up stress. It wasn’t so much the cottage itself or even “rest” as in laying around and doing nothing. Kim-Pang says rest can be active, such as walking. The important part is regaining the control the world can take away from you. This idea is echoed by author Robert Greene.
Turning Our Dead Time Into Alive Time
“I’m trapped in my office, but when I read a book on ancient history…I’m transported to ancient Greece…I’m not in my office anymore. I’m out there in the world…Use this time to get outside of yourself and immerse yourself in great philosophy, in great history, in great biographies. That’s creating alive time.”
— Robert Greene, Daily Stoic Podcast
In an interview on the Daily Stoic Podcast, Greene mentioned the troubles he’s dealt with after a recent stroke. He literally had to learn to walk again. On top of the stress of no longer being able to live a physically active life, Greene also had to deal with hours of mind numbingly boring rehab exercises.
He speaks about the idea of alive time versus dead time. Dead time is when you mindlessly follow the flow around you. You’re not mentally engaged. Greene reminds us our “time is the most important commodity of all”. In dead time, you’re not in control of your time — it’s owned by another and this can generate incredible stress.
However, you can make time your own again by choosing alive time. Greene says he turned the rehab into alive time by learning how his muscles worked and actively paying attention instead of just listening to music. Also, his office work suddenly became more focused alive time because his brain is something he has total control over. Reading and research aren’t hindered by his weakened muscles.
Alive time is generated by control. Taking control of time converts useless dead time into alive time. Hence, like Eisenhower and Aurelius, Greene found a way to renew himself and relieve stress through finding time to exert control.
Escaping To The Eye Of The Storm
I have certain rituals I do almost every day. Weekdays I’m generally up at least an hour before I need to be. This time is invested in writing and research — part of which you’re reading now. It’s my “Telegraph House”, my “Meditations” journal, my alive time. As Marcus stated, it’s my tranquility in an “instance”.
I’ve also found this alive time in my car on the way to work. Podcasts and audio books are my travel companion instead of mindless radio chatter. This enables me to get away without physically leaving the world around me. It’s sort of like stepping into the calm eye of the stress storm for a time.
And this is the secret. Relief from stress doesn’t need to involve a plane trip, or an expensive sunny resort on an island paradise. It’s much closer.
Marcus found the escape in his journal. His time in his thoughts was truly his own and couldn’t be confiscated by the crazy world around him. Likewise, Ike found relief from stress by cooking his own dinner and making time his own when he could. Finally, Greene converted the stressful dead time of being trapped in his home into alive time by escaping into books and research.
By finding a piece of the day we can exert control over the world around us, we can step into the calm eye of the stress storm. This simple procedure held together the Roman empire, kept the head of the Allied war effort calm, and stopped a famous author from falling apart after a stroke.
As a result, it can likely help us get through an awful week of work and find a peaceful respite from the stress in our world.
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