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- Calm in the Chaos
Welcome to The Stoa Letter, the newsletter on Stoic theory and practice.
Our letter today is a guest piece from Rebecca Simmons. Rebecca is an MMA athlete and student of the Stoics with a B.A. in History and Classics. You can learn more about her here.
🏛️ Theory
Life is chaotic. Your head remains on a swivel and gradually responsibilities begin growing, accompanied by a rollercoaster of emotions. What goes up must always come down and all things must end.
How then, are we able to manage our thoughts and emotions to ensure we keep a cool mind in the chaos? When everything in your being is choosing between fight or flight can we cultivate the ability to endure instead of flee?
The art of living is more like wrestling than dancing, in so far as it stands ready against the accidental and the unforeseen, and is not apt to fall.
My first MMA exhibition occurred last minute within a chaotic day. I got a call to show up because an opponent had backed out. I had worked a 9 hour shift, grabbed my gear, and drove an hour through the rain to the fight location. Full of a mixture of anxiety, confidence, and adrenaline, needless to say chaos had ensued.
As a martial artist, there is a certain application of these teachings that begins to take place as you grow within your art. The first moment I stepped foot in front of my opponent, seconds began to feel like hours. I was faced with three main realities:
I alone am in this fight.
I cannot run.
In calm I see - in chaos I am blind.
Seconds from the first bell ring, I had to decide what would drive me: my confidence in my abilities or life’s chaos? I chose might and discipline.
The ability to make this choice comes with time and the repetitive action. No one is born with the ability to be placed in chaos and respond without error. Gradually, we all must become more fortified to take on stress. I had sparred numerous times over, I’ve felt the pain of my opponent bettering me, so this was no different. When one becomes a martial artist, it is not the fight you will look for, but the ability to control the fight that comes to you. Inevitably life will force you into the ring and once you are pushed in, there is no one but you to face your opponent, however strong they may be.
As the great stoic philosopher Seneca writes to his friend Lucilius:
An athlete cannot bring to the competition a great inspiration who has never been beaten black and blue. The one who has seen his own blood, whose teeth have cracked under a punch, the one who, having been dashed to the ground, has borne his opponent with his whole body and who has not thrown over his spirit when he has been thrown, who has many times as he's fallen has gotten up more stubbornly— he goes down to the fight with great hope.
The ability to face fear and stand stoically within chaos is through preparation. Just as a martial artist will have both good and bad sparring sessions, he will progressively gain confidence in his own abilities through this practice. So too, can we practice calm within chaos.
🎯 Action
Think of a time recently when you were placed in a difficult situation that brought you stress. How did you react in this situation? Could you have reacted differently? Were you calm or anxious?
The next time you are faced with the decision to endure or retreat, take a moment to gather your mind.
🔗 Resources
🏛️ Michael Tremblay recently went on the podcast of two ironic young men to talk to them about Stoicism. I enjoyed it.
🥊 Rebecca shared an exercise she finds helpful for calming her mind:
Control your breath.
Close your mind to what is directly in front of you.
Acknowledge your strengths and stand confident in them.
React through reason, not emotion.
In calm you have sight, in chaos you are blind.
Realize that through practice, you will forge into an unshakable power.
After the stressful situation has passed, answer the questions above again and with time you will progress, gaining insight into your own strengths and weaknesses, growing peaceful within life’s chaos, and maintaining balance and reason as you react to stress.
It is our duty to best prepare for what difficulties may come to pass, for surely they will. There is no honor or reward in fighting a weak opponent, but one worthy of challenge that will forge you into a strong resilient mind.
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