No. 25 — 16th July 2023

Making sense of hardship

Today’s newsletter is on making sense of hardship. The word hardship resonates differently to each — some are taken back to times of financial struggle, or difficult relationships, or career stagnation, or just plain old bad times.

Maybe those situations got the best of you, maybe you pushed through, or maybe you’re facing them today. Whatever the case may be, making sense of it is important. Making sense means acknowledging what happened as best you can, understanding your role in causing it, and finding the positive handle to lift it by.

Before outlining approaches to making sense, there’s a story we can learn from.

Epictetus was born a slave in Ancient Greece, in 55AD. His name meant ‘Acquired One’, solidifying his status as property and not person. Well into his adulthood, Epictetus served tyrant leaders who mistreated him, even as he suffered a leg injury which resulted in a permanent limp.

As a young boy, Epictetus attended his first philosophy class. Initially, he felt out of place — it wasn’t common for slaves to be learning philosophy alongside the aristocrats. No one else in the class faced the hardships he did, how could they ever agree on philosophical perspectives? His teacher noticed his lack of belonging, and comforted him by saying that he had an advantage over other students.

Epictetus was confused — how can being a slave or having a limp be an advantage? His teacher told him that how he saw himself mattered more than what others thought of himself. Surely being a slave wasn’t ideal — but it was the hand he was dealt. If he spent his time complaining about bad luck or circumstance, he wouldn’t change his reality at all. He needed to make sense of it. That would make him free in a way that even the aristocrats weren’t.

Making sense of it didn’t happen in an instance. In fact, his reality got worse. The emperor found out he was studying philosophy, and exiled him from the country. If he had continued complaining about his circumstances, we wouldn’t be here talking about him some two thousand years later. So what happened to him?

First, he recognised that every situation has two handles, a positive one and a negative one. The one he would chose would respectively generate or drain his energy. Secondly, he stopped feeling sorry for himself. Even as a slave, he could still make choices — and he chose to make ones that made his perspective of life easier, not harder. Lastly, he found his vocation. He chose to become a teacher of philosophy and educate others on simple but profound truths that only intention could buy, not time.

Epictetus’ teachings resonated far and wide — even to one of the greatest Roman emperors of all time, Marcus Aurelius. His courage to make sense of his unfortunate circumstances resonated so strongly, that millions around the world are learning from his books today.

Epictetus’ story is both rare and strangely common. Rare, because few have the courage, strength and audacity to rise from such hardship, and maintain nobility, humility and belief. But common, because Epictetus isn’t the only one to overcome hardship and create positive change. Everyone reading his has faced at least the minutest degree of hardship, and I’m assured that we all stand tall today, some even sharing their story to uplift others.

Hardship builds us. The more we make sense of it, the more we can create a better version of ourselves and live with courage, justice, wisdom and temperance.

If you’re facing hardship today, here are a few positive handles you can embrace:

• Expand your time horizon. In the moment, it may be the worst feeling, but in the grand scheme of things, maybe it lead to better things.
• Don’t add to your troubles by imagining others don’t understand. They might not, but they have been through hardships too, and some lessons apply to multiple situations.
• Believe that hard battles are meant for tough soldiers. You play a unique role in the grand scheme of the universe, and your hardship isn’t for nothing. You were meant to go through it, and your courage creates positive energy that radiates through the universe.
• Letting go of blame will make things easier to process. Just as a child cannot take his hand out of the candy jar when his hand is full (he must drop some candy first), you must drop some of your anger before you process your situation. This analogy was from Epictetus himself.
• Identify what you gained from hardship. Why was your suffering necessary? What lesson did you need to learn before you graduated to better things?
• Remember that what doesn’t get process doesn’t leave. Take a few minutes everyday to come to terms with hardship, you owe it to yourself.
• Embrace Amor Fati, latin for ‘Love your fate’.

We'd love to know what you thought of this weeks newsletter. Feel free to share your thoughts by replying to this email.

Till next week,

Team Juice — Ria, Jay and Akash

Sera, Law Garden, Ahmedabad, India, 380006
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