Why I Almost Quit Stoicism

I used to think Stoicism was for the strong.

Turns out, I was dead wrong.

Do you know how many times I’ve wanted to throw Stoicism out the window?

I’ll go first…

Seven.

That’s how many times I seriously questioned whether all this philosophy crap was actually helping—or just giving me better words to justify my pain.

Here’s one of them:

I was sitting on my bedroom floor, phone buzzing with texts I didn’t want to read.

A girl I loved had left.

I’d lost a client that same week.

I felt like a loser.

I knew the right things to say:

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it.”

“The obstacle in the way becomes the way.”

But all I could think was:

“This hurts like hell.”

That’s when I realized something.

Stoicism doesn’t make the pain go away.

It makes you stop needing it to.

That’s the actual superpower.

Breakups aren’t going to stop.

Financial losses aren’t going to stop.

But you are going to stop crying like a b*tch every time you face them.

That’s what Stoicism gives you:

Not a stop to pain and problems.

(Stoicism can’t do that—life works that way and it’s out of our control.)

But the ability to hurt less each time.

Until you hurt way less than you used to.

So, no—I don’t follow Stoicism because I’m strong.

I follow it because I’m weak.

Because I’m scared.

Because I need help.

Because I’m not perfect.

But I hope one day I’ll hurt less.

And it’s already happening.

See you tomorrow,

Ioannis

PS. For this week, I’ll be sharing one letter on how Stoicism changed my life and what it can do for you. I hope you enjoy :)

PPS. Thanks for waiting me come back. My life was a mess. But Stoicism helped me fix things. Turns out, I didn’t need therapy. I needed to more Stoicism.