William Ferraiolo - Meditations on Self-Discipline and Failure: Stoic Exercise for Mental Fitness

Dedication: For Jennymy pebble

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT

MEDITATIONS ON SELF-DISCIPLINE AND FAILURE

Meditations on Self-Discipline and Failure will make you pause and reflect, whether or not you agree with any or all of its contents. Written in the style of Marcus Aurelius Meditations, and with a strong flavor of Epictetus, it confronts the reader with what happens if one looks at reality in the eyes and considers regulating his life accordingly. To do so takes both wisdom and courage, but Ferraiolo argues that it is well worth the effort. Massimo Pigliucci, PhD, author of How to Be a Stoic: Using Ancient Philosophy to Live a Modern Life

Written in the spirit of Epictetus Manual, Bill Ferraiolos Meditations exposes the common human fallacies that lead to depression, anxiety, guilt, anger, and other toxic emotions. From the self-defeating desire to control the minds of others to the unrealistic demand that politicians tell the truth, Ferraiolo challenges the most insidious human tendencies to undermine ones own peace and solemnity. Read it, and always keep a copy close at hand.

Elliot D. Cohen, PhD, author of What Would Aristotle Do? Self-Control through the Power of Reason

Ferraiolo offers a provocative contemporary adaptation of his reading of the Stoic philosophers Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus and other ancient philosophers of similar minds. The book is well-organized and easy to read. It will be welcomed by anyone fascinated with or open to meditative philosophy of the Roman Stoic variety. An interesting and worthwhile read.

Hugh H. Benson, PhD, author of Socratic Wisdom: The Model of Knowledge in Platos Early Dialogues

First published by O-Books, 2017

O-Books is an imprint of John Hunt Publishing Ltd., Laurel House, Station Approach, Alresford, Hants, SO24 9JH, UK

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Text copyright: William Ferraiolo 2016

ISBN: 978 1 78535 587 5

978 1 78535 588 2 (ebook)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2016951897

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in critical articles or reviews, no part of this book may be reproduced in any manner without prior written permission from the publishers.

The rights of William Ferraiolo as author have been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.

A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.

Design: Stuart Davies

Printed and bound by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon, CR0 4YY, UK

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I would like to thank everyone at John Hunt Publishing for their assistance. Without Catherine Harris, Dominic C. James, Elizabeth Radley, John Hunt, Maria Barry, Mary Flatt, Nick Welch, Stuart Davies, and Krystina Kellingly, you would not have this book to read. Without the Roman Stoics, Socrates, and Diogenes, I would have had relatively little to write. Without my wife, Jennifer Ferraiolo, I would be no one.

You are reading these words because you seek counsel and you have not quite found what you are looking for anywhere else. Had you found what you needed elsewhere, there would be no reason for you to continue searching, and no reason to look here, in particular. This seems a reasonable inference, does it not? It is entirely possible that you do not really know just what form of guidance you are seeking, or what exactly motivates you to wonder if you might be in need of any special assistance at all. In other words, you may not know what the problem is. Perhaps you have some idea of what the difficulty might be, but you struggle to articulate the problem clearly, or to explain it to anyone (including yourself) in a way that does not make it seem petty, or insignificant, or just another one of those common struggles that everyone has to face at some point or other. You do not want to be merely another whining, self-absorbed weakling who cannot handle daily life without running to Mommy, or some phony academic with a fancy degree or a television showor call a psychic hotline! Life is hard. You get it. There is, however, something about your way of being in the world that is not quite comfortable. This is not a matter of body aches, bad furniture, or an air conditioner on the fritz. The discomfort that led you here is somewhere within the confines of your own consciousness. There is no salve for it. Ibuprofen does not help. It is not the kind of discomfort that can be rectified with more money, a bigger house in a better neighborhood, or even a dramatic change of location. Your career, or lack thereof, does not seem to be the source of the problemalthough dissatisfaction in that area of your life might be a symptom of this condition that troubles you. Perhaps your relationships are less satisfying, or less comforting than you might have expectedbut is that a cause of your discomfort, or is it an effect? Have people always experienced what you are going through now, or is it a feature of the modern world, and the constant hurrying, or the impersonal experiences of dealing with computers, recorded messages, and the greater isolation we seem to experience, paradoxically, as the population grows and becomes more denseyet more distant, somehow? Maybe this is just some kind of phase you are going through, or a midlife crisis of some type, or an adolescent fixation on finding yourself. Maybe your diet is out of whack. All that processed food, and microwaveable junk cannot be good for you, can it? Have you been watching too much television? Are you really getting the kind of restorative sleep that you need while tossing and turning on that mattress of yours? You know a lot of people who are taking antidepressants and antianxiety medications these days. There really is no shame in going to see a psychiatrist anymore, is there? Everybody seems to be doing it. Of course, not everybody seems to be getting much benefit out of it. The psychiatrists are doing pretty well for themselves, but their patients seem about as fouled up after getting help as they were before. Besides, how can you possibly know what kind of doctor or therapist you really need? Do you need to talk through your early childhood experience with some Freudian, or would you be better off with some hardcore cognitive-behavioral therapy, and bottle of Xanax to get you through those particularly rough patches at work, or on airplanes, or when your mother-in-law comes to visit? If you could just find something to help you deal with your stress, and a way of calming yourself down when it all gets to be just a little too much, then you could handle the rest on your own. Of course, you are not quite certain what it is, or why it gets to be too much so often that you find yourself reading this, and thinking about drugs and headshrinkers. What are you unable to handle exactly, and what does it even mean to handle your life? Life is for living! When did handling your life become a legitimate goal? Your mother probably has something to do with this. Shrinks always blame the motherbecause she always causes the problem! Who was your earliest influence? Who taught you your first lessons? Whose belly did you live in for nine months? You could call Mom, if she is still available, and talk it over. Of course, that would just be a nightmare! Criticism is bound to fly back and forth. You will end up feeling guiltywhich is not particularly helpful. Mom will stop talking to youfor a while. No, you need something else. You need to figure this out for