Two ways to practice Stoic acceptance

https://medium.com/stoicism-philosophy-as-a-way-of-life/two-ways-to-practice-stoic-acceptance-254223551b27

It's a pretty short article. I'd like to hear your opinions on if you think these ways could help you (and if they already do).

I think this was a very interesting article! The Cognitive tactic seems like a very good way to ground yourself, and check in to make sure you are doing your best with what you have control of. While as the Non-cognitive tactic feels very much like meditation to me unless I misunderstood what it was saying.

That being said I think I will be meditating on this phrase for a while.

"Do not seek for things to happen the way you want them to; rather, wish that what happens happen the way it happens: then you will be happy."

I think the cognitive exercise can be a powerful tool in finding your triggers and patterns, too. Especially if you include the emotions that arise in relation with happenings.

I find the non-cognitive one very strange. It reads like a mindfulness exercise, but with a different object. There's a certain irony in having to focus on the absence of breath, while it is breath that we usually use as anchor. I'm sure it can be just as powerful, as the first one.

If I were to use them, I would do it in conjunction. Mindful during the day, maybe taking notes, then recap during the evening. I did try to do it for a while, but it didn't settle as a habit.

The cognitive exercise I find myself performing habitually... I routinely catch myself being annoyed at a red light or impatient that an online work assignment cannot load. It’s an important exercise we can all incorporate into our days.

Like others I am skeptical about the intuitive exercise. This too I practice unconsciously. When I exercise I tell myself the pain doesn’t really exist and can be powered through. But this can be unhealthy, especially with emotional pain. Telling ourselves something only exists in our own mind prevents us from properly addressing that problem.

Regarding the reasoning part:
This reminds me a concept employ often in my own life. It's stated pretty clearly in the ever-popular "serenity prayer," which goes "God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference." Or as my sister in law pits it, "not my monkeys, not my circus." There's only so much I can control, basically just myself, and it's useless to spend energy trying to control anything else. It's much wiser and more effective to use that effort learning to accept what is and work from there. When people ask me to prayer for them, or if I'm praying about a specific thing in my life, I don't pray to ask for a specific outcome. I don't feel like it's my job to ask that things beyond my control gonna certain way; the Force has a vast plan that my puny mind can't hope to compretend. Rather, I pray that everyone involved can find peace with whatever happens.

Regarding the intuition part:
I don't really get what this has to do with intuition, which I define as when you just kind of know things, like a gut feeling or whatever. Maybe in stoicism "intuition" has a specific meaning ... But in general, I do understand the idea from the article. And it makes sense to me. This is something else I think I already use in my life. The way I think of it is, everything is a choice. Sometimes it may not seem like one, but that's just the times when we are absolutely unwilling to consider choosing the other option. Someone might say eating is not a choice; you have to do it. But of course eating is a choice: the other option is death. There are people who go on hunger strikes or fast to the point of dying. Paying bills is a choice; the other option is homelessness. Stopping at a red light is a choice; the other option is risking a crash. So yeah, discomforts are my choice because I'm choosing the action or inaction that leads to them. I may wish for better choices, but it's still all a choice and I still have full control.

This article seems like really another perspective on things I've already been doing and thinking about. Thanks for sharing it