Say your goal is to win a wrestling match at the Olympic Games. Consider what comes before, during, and after the event. Before, you must train rigorously, eat a strict diet, abstain from alcohol, obey your coach, and follow the rules of the competition. During the match, you may be thrown down, dislocate your arm, sprain your ankle, eat dust, and be beaten.
If you have considered all this, and you still want to wrestle - by all means, begin training. Otherwise, you are like a child who daydreams about being a great wrestler and acts out shows with his friends.
Some hear a lecture from a wise philosopher, and are inspired to become philosophers. Lacking study and practice, they are mere imitators.
You may fancy yourself a wrestler, then a gladiator, then an orator, then a philosopher - but never begin training in earnest. If so, you are a dabbler who samples many fields, but when the time comes to commit to one, you move on to the next.
To find your vocation, first consider your talents and inclinations. Do you have the back, shoulders, and thighs of a wrestler? Or the potential and determination to gain them through exercise?
Do you live in a way befitting a philosopher? Or are you restless, quick to anger, and a glutton for food and wine? If you truly wise to become a philosopher, you must gain self-control, give up friends who are bad influences, be prepared to face ridicule and scorn, and be willing to give up honors, offices, riches, and fame.
If you have fully considered the consequences, and you still wish to make these sacrifices for peace, freedom, and inner harmony - by all means, begin your philosophical training.
Whatever your vocation, pursue it wholeheartedly. Consider, choose, and commit."
- Epictetus, The Enchiridion (Version by Sam Torode)
If I thought about all the pains or possibilities of everything I have done over the years, I would have ended up very sedentary and secluded. I’m glad that I went ahead and tried knew things against the “common wisdom.”
ReplyDeleteEd - I suspect that Epictetus is not necessarily saying do not do anything (he would, I suspect, call them "dabblers"; we call them "hobbyists"), but for those things that we decide to spend our lives on, to understand what we are committing to.
DeleteI would say martial arts are a great example. Many people have taken martial arts at some point in their lives. At some point, one comes to understand what a commitment it takes to be a martial artist. The difference for those that continue forward in the system (any system) are those that understand the cost in terms of time, training, and (effectively) loss of other activities.
Two of my coworkers have children who compete in sports. One a college swimmer, the other a high school wrestler. Both are rather gifted and qualified for state titles. Neither won 1st place, but still placed high. The college student earned a partial scholarship which helps his parents save some cost. If the person decideds to pursue a Masters, the father told him it was on his dime, not the Father.
ReplyDeleteBoth students are required to maintain a weight to retain their spot. It is rather difficult at times to prevent themselves at parties to abstain from favorite foods, but that is a cost they have to pay. The wrestler in particular has had to fast to make weight. The swimmer puts in long hours, waking up very early in morning to go to swimming pool and training. A lot of discipline required for both of them.
Anonymous - I think Epictetus would say that this represents the idea of his comment perfectly.
DeleteI do not train at the level and cannot imagine the commitment of doing so. That said, without that commitment my performance shows it.
Ultimately we have to exchange something for our goals in life. The children of your coworkers seem to have already grasped that. There are many others that do not do so throughout their lives.
I feel a bit sorry for them though. Although discipline is being taught, I worry that their childhood is being sacrificed. When I was a child, summer mornings / evenings were spent OUTSIDE. Noon, when sun was blazing was indoor time, crackers with butter or jelly reading the complete Charles Schultz PEANUT archives (Dad was a reader and collected all types of books, even comic strips from his youth).
DeleteBoth of these kids are talented, but fun goofing off - what is that ? When they become adults, that time is extremely limited. Adulting is a full time job.
I guess there has to be a balance.
Anonymous, I have never been really good at anything that I was required to have that level of commitment. I bump into people now - at work, in various activities - and you can tell the committed in that sense from the non-committed. And I think at least for some that I have met, they cannot imagine a life without it.
DeleteI presume for the college student, part of it is effectively "their job".
On the other hand, I wonder how goofing off now compares to back them?
I've always considered that two of the most valuable life skills we can teach children is how to analytically think a thing through and self-discipline. What a different place our world would be if those were taught.
ReplyDeleteAgreed Leigh. It would likely be a very different world indeed. Unfortunately I often feel that neither skill is in abundance anymore.
DeleteLeigh hits one of the things we told our kids. Only one managed to grasp it and use it: If you can say no to yourself, you are peer proof. You can go far with self-control.
ReplyDeleteIn a lot of things, I'd be a dabbler, I guess. But a more accurate word now for most of the things I've continued with is amateur. Not in the shade of unskilled, but from the Latin amātor or lover. I have outperformed professionals at some things that interest me. I'm not unskilled, just not professional as in getting paid for it.
One of the problems with the head I have, is in getting interested in a new subject. I usually get caught up to the point of neglecting other important things as I learn new concepts. I explore everything I can find about it (the internet is amazing, no?). Then when I am starting to reach a good understanding.... something else shiny catches my eye.
Oh no.... Mentally, I'm a crow.
But STxAR, I would argue that you are very good at what you do and in that sense are committed. Your work is constantly amazing to me.
DeleteLike above, I do not think that Epictetus is arguing against dabbling per se, just people that in some ways always want to commit but always dabble. His line "Otherwise, you are like a child who daydreams about being a great wrestler and acts out shows with his friends" hit pretty close to home for me.
Pray, then, only to desire what the gods desire for you, to desire what you know is good, and let the chips fall where they may.
ReplyDelete- Philosophy Bro
Do no wish things that all things would go well for you, but that you will go well with all things - Epictetus
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