Each time you do something you don’t feel like doing but know you should, you build stoic fortitude.
This can be at the smallest level, like brushing your teeth for someone who is battling depression to not giving in to the compulsion to eat cookies instead of eating healthy food or doing homework instead of playing video games, all the way to having the courage to face a bully or asking someone out or to put your life on the line for your principles.
When wisdom tells you what to do then do it without complaining because complaining just gives way to suffering. If you do find yourself complaining then it might be time to reevaluate your judgements and beliefs.
I tell myself “Each time you do something you don’t feel like doing, you build stoic fortitude.” One step closer to the target.
Definitions
fortitude — the strength of mind that enables a person to encounter danger or bear pain or adversity with courage
The purpose of Nonviolent Communication is to strengthen our ability to inspire compassion from others and respond compassionately to others and ourselves to create a quality of connection with others in which everyone’s needs are equally valued and met through natural giving.
Analysis
Suppose when you think about “Stoic fortitude”, you feel excited as you imagine that it would meet your need for meaning.
Suppose you feel the compulsion to eat a piece of cookie when you see it; I imagine that you are trying to meet the needs for ease on top subsistence.
How shall we mediate these two needs for Meaning and Ease?
