resist and persist

This is blog is taken from readings by The Daily Stoic, (28/01/19). It fits so well with taking courage and digging deep. To quote from Mary Poppins, when she sings, 'It's a Jolly Holiday', she describes Bert with forbearance being his hallmark; what he's known by.

Confucius (Chinese) was once asked by a student if there was a single word to live by, a word that would always provide guidance and truth. He thought about it for a minute and replied with the word chu, which translates roughly into “forbearance.”

This is interesting because Epictetus (Greek) was once asked which words would help a person live a life of peace and goodness. The two words, he said were: persist and resist.

We resist giving in, resist temptation, resist despair, and resist immorality. We persist in our efforts, courage and fortitude, we persist to be a good example for others, we persist in training - body mind and spirit, we persist in overcoming all obstacles on our path. The definition of forbearance perfectly captures both those ideas: Patient self-control.