What are we unable to change?
(A lesson from the Stoic school)

In Stoic thought, one of the most important questions before us is this: which things fall within our power to change—and if we do not change them, will enslave us—and which things lie beyond our power to alter?

From this perspective, four domains in which change is possible are:
mental attitudes and beliefs; desires and inclinations; unconscious reactions; and awareness.

Stoicism invites us to struggle in these four domains, where change is possible and where we are genuinely free, and asks us to release what lies outside our control and cannot be changed.

What we cannot change is the fundamental law and cosmic order. What remains open to us in relation to this law is to know and accept it. The Stoics regard several domains as manifestations of this universal law. One is death, an embodiment of cosmic order; another is suffering.

For the Stoics, life is a practical art that can be learned only through understanding its laws. Knowing, understanding and accepting the fundamental law and order of the world is part of the art of living.

YouTube video from the Steps into the Light channel:
https://youtu.be/ntavpUSM1h8