Optimist Day - February 1st 2024

Optimist Day is celebrated on the first Thursday of February and takes place on February 1 this year. The day focuses on building and sustaining a positive future. Are you wondering how this is possible? Well, anything can be achieved as long as you stay focused and optimistic.

And for me it is part of being stoic. Pessimism and optimism from the perspective of a stoic depends on our / your perception of the bigger picture – our place in the grand scheme of things. Stoicism Isn't Pessimistic. I see it as boldly optimistic.

One of the most common myths or misconceptions about Stoicism is that it advocates the suppression of emotions. Critics often misinterpret Stoicism's emphasis on emotional self-control as advocating for a numb, cold or unfeeling existence. People who know me or just met me knows that I am far from suppressing emotions :-) 

How do I explain Stoicism to people in my life who are not familiar with philosophy and are looking for a simple explanation? 

One valuable stoic insight that I emphasize is that the foundation of our happiness in life - our well-being and our flourishing - primarily depends on ourselves and not on external circumstances. It depends on us developing qualities of character and understanding - the virtues, as Stoics call them - that are key to a fulfilling human life. It does not depend on money, social status, and worldly success, nor on health or the well-being of those we love. These latter things have genuine value - particularly the last two - but they alone do not guarantee happiness; and happiness can be achieved without them.

I also emphasize that Stoicism is not just about managing our own inner life - although it is that - but also about expressing a caring attitude towards other people (whoever they are, including strangers and disenfranchised people) through action. Therefore, social action and inner self-management have to be balanced and both need to be guided by the aim to fulfill our highest ideals in our daily actions and attitudes.

As mentioned at the beginning - the often or common misinterpretation, misconceptions  or stereotypes are that stoics are just about controlling or suppressing their emotions, or that they are selfish and don't really care about other people. I question this by pointing out that both emotional self-management and the social aspect of Stoicism - which is very important - depend on trying to put basic ethical principles into action, living according to the virtues, as they call it.

Stoic quotes and ideas

Rather than talking about quotes or daily rituals, I would like to highlight three ways in which Stoicism has recently helped me to deal with a rather serious health problem and to work on recovering from it.

• Stoicism keeps reminding us to expect the unexpected - and unwelcome - including the possible death of ourselves or those we love.
• Stoicism urges us to take things as they come - day by day and step by step - and not to plan for what we can't achieve with our own efforts - but to recognize what "is up to us" and what isn't (as Epictetus put / phrased it).
• Still, Stoicism urges us to strive to live up to our highest ideals in every situation - to respond thoughtfully, humanely and with vision - and to live every day as if it were our last - which of course it is.

I found it helpful to keep these stoic themes in mind - all familiar themes in Marcus Aurelius and other stoic writers.

As I said at the beginning, for me being stoic means being optimistic.