Taylor McNeil interviews Dr. Ronald Pies about Stoic philosophy and its relevance to life today. http://tuftsjournal.tufts.edu/2008/04/features/06/ Pies' response to: What is the Stoic view of life?

The fundamental point is to live according to nature and the way the universe actually is, as opposed to how you might hope it would be. What Stoics say is that bad things happen, people get sick, they die-and good things happen, too. But a lot of things that trouble us happen. You can make yourself miserable about that if you want, or you can realize that this is the way things are. You can try to change those things that are within your power to change, but you don't have to make yourself miserable over the things that are not. (Emphasis added)

In some ways, it's like that well-known saying that is something of a cliché, which you see posted in 12-step meetings: Lord, give me strength to change the things I can change, give me courage to accept things I cannot change, and grant me courage to know the difference. It may be a cliché, but it does sum up a lot of the Stoics' beliefs. (Serenity Prayer: http://www.beliefnet.com/Prayers/Pro...ty-Prayer.aspx)

Many here are familiar to some extent with the Serenity Prayer and with cognitive behavioral therapy. Pies thinks the Stoics were the precursors to the sentiments of the prayer and the goals of CBT. He says:

In cognitive behavioral therapy, the focus is on using reason to understand the present and overcome emotional difficulties. What the Stoics said, according to Pies, is both helpful and relevant to us, here and now. "I encourage people to consider the view that by understanding our ideas, we can modulate our emotions," he says, "because in a lot of ways, it's a counterintuitive view for this culture and this society." (http://www.mayoclinic.com/health/cog...4/METHOD=print)

The self-modulation is intended to help us avoid making ourselves miserable.