My dear readers, I say a heartfelt hello to all of you. I have a wonderful enthusiasm to be with you again today. Today I will tell you about a very, very important person in the history of cognitive therapy. This person is Epictetus himself, who was once a slave working in the fields and later became a philosopher. He has a documentary called Epictetus, From Slavery to Philosophy. You should definitely watch it, I highly recommend it. Recently, during a therapy session with a good client of mine, I told him the story of Epictetus' injury. That client of mine was very impressed by this story and asked me to write it down. I told him that one day I would write, publish and share this story. Right now, I feel the joy of having told the story of Epictetus and the happiness of keeping my promise to my client, and I am also happy when I share this feeling with you, my valued readers. After sharing these feelings and thoughts with you, I suggest we start the story of Epictetus without wasting any time.
Epictetus has an incredible contribution to cognitive therapy, and is even considered the ancestor of cognitive therapy. According to Epictetus, happiness and freedom lie in the distinction between what we can control and what we cannot. The individual realizes this truth; In other words, if the individual accepts that life consists of elements that may or may not be under his control and continues his life with this acceptance, peace and happiness will be realized in the individual. According to Epictetus, external objects have essentially no possibility of harming us. Our own behavior or beliefs or attitudes harm us. What affects people is the meanings they give to situations, people or events. These interpretations of people are actually a kind of interpretation of events. According to Epictetus, exactly these comments seriously affect a person's mental health. Both positive and negative moods are created by the meanings people give to "things", not by the "things" themselves.
Epictetus, one of the slaves working in the fields, is from Anatolia. He was born in the Phrygia region of. You also know very well that; Slaves would also have owners and masters. These gentlemen They would tie shackles (chains) to the slaves' feet to prevent them from running away. One day, while Epictetus was working in the field, his master Epaphroditus came to check on him. He sees that Epictetus' shackle is loosened. Thereupon, he decided to tighten Epictetus' pressure. Epictetus says; He told his master that there was no need for this, that he would not run away anyway, and that his foot might be damaged if the shackles tightened. But master Epaphroditus did not listen to his slave Epictetus. Soon, the master Epaphroditus receives news that one of the slaves has a broken leg. He gets up and goes to the field. He sees that everyone is gathered. He breaks through the crowd and makes eye contact with Epictetus inside the circle. He looks at his foot and sees that his foot is broken. But very interestingly, there is no reaction from Epictetus such as crying, shouting or anything like that. This situation also upset the master Epaphroditus. Thereupon, he asks Epictetus, "How come you don't react even though your foot is broken?" Epictetus also gives his famous answer. He says, "My foot is already broken. No matter how much I cry and scream, can my broken foot still remain broken?" Impressed by this answer, the master Epaphroditus freed his slave Epictetus. Thus, the way for a philosopher was opened. Epictetus also developed as he developed with an incredible desire to learn. And finally he managed to lay the foundations of current cognitive therapy.
Epictetus says; The world is a mirror and whatever we think about, we see and experience outside, that is, in the world. It's not the burden itself that makes you weak, it's how you carry it. In another sentence of Epictetus, we see again how important our perspective is. He says; What disturbs people is not the events themselves, but the person's perspective on these events. There is no absolute right and wrong. Looking at life purely in terms of right and wrong leads to shame, guilt, anxiety, depression, and hostile feelings in the individual. I think these sentences of Epictetus tell us this: There are two colors in life: black and white. But do you think life consists of only these two colors? Why do we deprive ourselves of other colors of life? Is life all or nothing? Can't it be both this and that? Why don't we give ourselves a third option? Why yourself? We always treat our people cruelly.
According to Epictetus, he argues that the sole goal, purpose and purpose of the individual is to be the master of his/her life. I really think that this idea should be seriously considered by all of us. Because unfortunately most of us are not the masters of our lives. And again, unfortunately, others are the masters of our lives, and moreover, we allowed these others to do so. To me, this is not their success but our failure. Because if we do not allow them to do this, they can never be the masters of our lives. They can never decide over our lives. They never have the courage to judge our lives. When will we stop encouraging them? So when will we encourage ourselves? If we turn to ourselves and this life is yours and this life has a master, it is you and it must be you. Never, ever give anyone else the right to speak. Because this right to speak creates a habit in them. You need to be careful.
Epictetus says ask yourself what will happen, what could happen, and then do whatever you need to do. Here, Epictetus suggests that a person should do accounting with his inner voice. Of course, this inner voice should be a calm and reasonable voice. Because an anxious inner voice can take a person to different places. He also says, "You say you will be a completely different person tomorrow, so why don't you start today?" Human beings are creatures that love procrastination and laziness in general. However, there is no time to waste. The person should start his change as soon as possible. At least he should take steps for change. It would be better if he makes the change he intends to make with a psychologist. Because this idea of change is troublesome and difficult. A person can back out of this path at any time. This idea may seem like torture after a while. Never give up on him. Let those around you be people who will motivate you. Be sure to distance yourself from people who will give you negative energy. Open it so that this change process can proceed in a healthy way. I think, my dear readers, you will love Epictetus as you get to know him and learn his words and perspective.
Dear readers, unfortunately, I have come to the end of another article. There is sadness inside me, but it is not permanent. Because recently The enthusiasm and hope that we will meet again saves me from this sadness. If there is a topic you would like me to write about, please send me a message and I will try to write and convey my knowledge as much as I can. Treat yourself well and kindly. Don't neglect yourself. Protect yourself from yourself.
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