I've decided to become a Stoic

From Boing Boing

it soon became apparent that everything I "knew" about the Stoics was wrong. They were neither grim nor wooden. If anything, the adjective that I thought described them best was "buoyant" or maybe even "cheerful." And without consciously intending to do so, I found myself experimenting with Stoic strategies for daily living.

Thus, when I found myself in a predicament -- being stuck in traffic, for example -- I followed the advice of Epictetus and asked myself what aspects of the situation I could and couldn't control. I couldn't control what the other cars did, so it was pointless -- was in fact counterproductive -- for me to get angry at them. My energy was much better spent focusing on things I could control, with the most important being how I responded to the situation. In particular, I could employ Stoic strategies to prevent the incident from spoiling my day.

Posts:

1. http://www.boingboing.net/2010/10/27/twenty-first-century-2.html
2. http://www.boingboing.net/2010/10/29/twenty-first-century-3.html
3. http://www.boingboing.net/2010/11/01/twenty-first-century-4.html