June 5th Reading from The Daily Stoic (Round 2) - Blow Your Own Nose

"We cry to God Almighty, how can we escape this agony? Fool, don't you have hands? Or could it be God forgot to give you a pair? Sit and pray your nose doesn't run! Or rather, just wipe your nose and stop seeking a scapegoat."

~ Epictetus, Discourses, 2.16.13

I often fear that Stoicism is rather ableist. I mean, telling people with biochemical mental health issues to "just think differently" is pretty ableist - Stoicism works well for people in peak mental condition, but then, they don't need it. "Did God forget to give you a pair of hands?" Well, a friend of mine was born with only one hand, so yeah, I guess he did. Another close friend was born with only one leg. It happens.

Now, it's not really literally hands Epictetus is talking about, here. He means, "resources you can use to solve your problems," just as "runny noses" isn't the huge life problem here. His point is: "Got a problem? Well, yes, you could just whine about it. But how about taking stock of what resources you have to deal with the problem yourself? And remembering that according to Stoics, it's not even a real problem unless you decide that it is?"