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#5 How "Amor Fati," the quintessential stoic principle, helps you keep you sanity?
This post explores how adopting "Amor Fati" not only helps one face life's unpredictabilities but also transforms them into a source of strength.
Uki D. Lucas
May 03, 2024
My mission statement:
“A compendium of letters blending technology startup management, stoic philosophy, active lifestyle ethos, and a love for culture. It aims to mentor and inspire through insightful content and practical advice, focusing on personal and professional growth for a balanced and fulfilling life.”
Surprisingly, in the last poll, vote about your interests,
Stoic and Zen Buddhist Philosophy received the most votes.
I couldn’t be more happy!
It was hard to choose the first topic.
Table of Contents
I, Claudius, err, Professor McGonagall
Both Stoicism and Zen are stern disciplines. However, they fit me well.
As an ex-U.S. Marine, sometimes I come across as a bit stern.
Ok, more than a bit.
My kids say I have the personality of both “Sifu” from Kung Fu Panda and Professor Minerva McGonagall of Harry Potter fame.
Lovely.
So, I decided to write about Love. Love of Life, or Fate, to be precise.
Amor Fati
The Stoic philosophy in "Amor Fati" offers a profound way to embrace every aspect of our existence.
In life's tapestry,
every thread,
whether dyed in dark hues of challenge
or bright colors of joy,
holds the fabric of who we really are.
Remove one and all might come undone.
Stoicism: A cow standing in the pouring rain?
Somewhere, I heard a comparison between Stoic Philosophy and a wet cow standing in the pasture.
I found it amusing, maybe because it could be conceived as accurate.
I will try to explain that the truth is quite the opposite.
What is the meaning of “Amor Fati”?
"Amor Fati," a Latin phrase meaning 'love of one's fate,' is a mindset that encourages us to accept and embrace whatever life throws our way and learn from it.
On the Anthropological note, the concept of fate comes from Ancient Greece, where it can be either a singular goddess of destiny, Moira, mentioned by Homer,
or three old goddesses named:
- Clotho — the Spinner (birth),
- Lachesis—the Allotter (destiny),
- and Atropos—the Inflexible (death),
as mentioned by Hesiod, 800 BCE.
In Rome, they were called Nona, Decuma, and Morta.
Not negation, not pessimism, and not inaction
Back to our wet cow.
Stoicism, and, for that matter, Zen Buddhism, is about understanding life the way it is—without delusions.
You can understand your life while sitting still or going a hundred miles per hour. The last one can be physically or metaphorically.
You can understand life while being inactive or getting up early to do great things.
It is your choice what to do with your life. Let me re-state it: Your actions are your choice to control.
Unfortunately, the outcomes are not. We can prepare and stack the odds in our favor, but we cannot guarantee the outcome.
One principle you have to remember, which is equally professed by Stoics and Buddhists:
Do your personal best at all times,
but do not get attached to the outcomes.
It is a tough red pill to swallow, but once we understand and internalize that we can only control our actions at a given moment and not the results in the future, we learn to live a good, productive life without disappointments.
Of course, inaction, fatalism, or nihilism guarantee bad outcomes.
Good life is a right journey, not a destination.
Some people never realize it, and others forget what makes life meaningful.
It is not always the “fun” or “enjoyment” of the moment; often, it is the growth.
Often, the periods of the hardest struggle and the grandest effort are remembered as the best.
Maybe that is why I choose to work for startups.
Friedrich Nietzsche
Friedrich Nietzsche, an “existentialist,” who championed the “Amor Fati” idea, believed in loving one's fate to foster resilience and personal growth.
“I want to learn more and more
to see as beautiful what is necessary in things;
then I shall be one of those who make things beautiful.
Amor fati: let that be my love henceforth!
I do not want to wage war against what is ugly.
I do not want to accuse;
I do not even want to accuse those who accuse.
Looking away shall be my only negation.
And all in all and on the whole:
some day I wish to be only a Yes-sayer.”
Today’s post was short, but I hope it made you think.
You will see me write on this subject much more.
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View choice of my books on Amazon
“Breakfast with Seneca: A Stoic Guide to the Art of Living”
by David R. Fideler
I purchased this edition on November 27, 2023
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by Antonia Macaro
I purchased this edition on July 12, 2023
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