Amor Fati: The Stoic Philosophy For Thriving In Hard Times
“My formula for greatness in a human being is amor fati…”
When hard times come the natural human reaction is to resist.
“Why me?” “Why now?” “Why this?” we say.
Naturally, hard times are frustrating — even excruciating. Perhaps, though, there’s another way.
The stoic philosophers had a unique approach to life’s challenges. Friedrich Nietzsche was a German philosopher. Among many things, he’s known for the phrase amor fati — which translates to “a love of one’s fate” or a deep acceptance of what happens in one’s life.
In Ecce Homo he wrote:
My formula for greatness in a human being is amor fati: that one wants nothing to be different, not forward, not backward, not in all eternity. Not merely bear what is necessary, still less conceal it… but love it.
Nietzsche wasn’t the only one to approach life in this way. Epictetus, who experienced disability and the life of a slave said:
“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.”
To not only accept what happens in life — especially the hard times — but to embrace them seems like a foreign concept.
