41: What the Stoics Teach Us About Recovery | Marcus Aurelius and the Meditations

How can the teachings of the Stoics help us overcome porn
addiction?


Stoicism is a moral philosophy for how to live a good life.
Sometimes we make the mistake of believing stoicism is all about
being serious and having no emotion. Being “stoic”, right? This
has little to do with what Stoicism actually is. 


We also make the assumption that stoicism, as a philosophy, is
irreligious. But this is not the case. 


If you’re not familiar with the Stoics, they were philosophers
during the age of the Roman Empire. They believed that by
observing and being aware of thoughts and emotions, and acting
according to reason, we can discontinue allowing earthly passions
to rule us, and become masters over our minds, committing
ourselves to a life of service to our fellow men. 


In essence, we could describe pornography addiction recovery this
same way: To become an observer of our thoughts and emotions, to
master our mind, and to have a life of meaning and service
replace the draw of worldly pleasures. 


Today, we’re going to focus on some teachings from my man, Marcus
Aurelius, one of the original stoics, and the Roman Emperor from
161 to 180 A.D. 


If you haven’t read Marcus Aurelius' journal - The Meditations -
I highly recommend it. That’s where I’ve pulled today’s teachings
from. I hope they help you stop watching porn and get sober for
both yourself and family.


When we are caught up in addiction, we can feel like a slave to
our body’s earthly passions. Marcus Aurelius taught men to live a
life founded on serving - which is in essence the opposite of
addiction. Addiction is focused on self; recovery is focused on
others and God. Not that addicts are selfish, but just that we
may have some bad habits of focusing on ourselves too much, which
fuels our addiction to porn. When in porn recovery, we are
working to replace some of our self-centered habits with
‘others-centered’ and God-centered habits. I’m constantly working
on this everyday myself, and need reminders all the time. 


Hope these teachings help you quit porn, my friend. 



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