Remaining Stoic When Swimming

 

Swimming has many benefits for both our physical and mental health. That is quite clear and beyond debate. For me, however, I want to take the benefits of swimming one step further: it provides me with an opportunity to train my Stoic mindset.

It was only in my adult life that I developed an affinity for swimming. In fact, just a few years ago, I did not know how to swim at all.

Deep water was an object of fear for me. But after gathering my courage, I decided to face that fear and began taking swimming lessons. Even now that I can swim decently, the familiar anxious feeling of possibly drowning still sneaks up on me from time to time.

Despite my fear of deep water, however, I have gradually developed a genuine affinity for swimming. It has become a passion of mine — so much so that my swimming sessions often determine my mood.

If a practice goes well, my mood is lifted. But if, for some reason, the session does not go as I had hoped, I cannot help but feel deflated. In any case, I remain determined to work hard so that my swimming skills continue to improve.

In both respects — conquering my fear and improving my skills — the philosophy of Stoicism has played, and continues to play, a crucial role.

Control the controllable? But what can we control?

 

Do not waste your time, energy, and resources on the things you cannot control. Instead, focus on the things you can control. The ancient Stoics call this the Dichotomy of Control. This is perhaps the best advice I have ever received: control the controllable.

At first glance, this seems easy—almost oversimplistic. However, putting this philosophy into practice has proven to be challenging. In my experience, distinguishing the things in life I can control from those I cannot is, in itself, no easy task.

More often than not, we think we are in control when what we actually have is the illusion of control. We like to believe that we are conscious and rational beings, but experience teaches us otherwise. Our subconscious, which often overrides rational thinking, is far more powerful than we care to admit. We are not driving—we are being driven.

Being Stoic While Swimming: Focus on what you can control, let go of what you can't

The Philosophy of Stoicism teaches us that in order to have a happy and peaceful life, we have to learn how to focus our time and energy to the things we can control. Stoics refer to this as the “Dichotomy of Control” (DOC). This also implies that obsessing about things in our lives we cannot change is not only futile, but could also make us anxious, frustrated, and unhappy. A prinicple I apply with my passion, namely, swimming. 

In his online article What Many People Misunderstand about the Stoic Dichotomy of Control, Michael Tremblay provides a straightforward description of DOC. He writes: 

DOC is often represented in the following way: 

1. Everything is either something we control, or don’t control.
2. We control our emotions, behaviour, and reactions to situations.
3. We don’t control anything else, like other people’s behaviours or what they think of us. 
4. If we wish to be happy/better people, we should focus on the things in our control, namely our behaviour and our reactions to situations.

Here, Tremblay is able to pin down the core teaching of Stoicism in such a way that is accessible to us. So much so, that at first glance, it may seem too simplistic. Too obvious even. We do not need a philosopher coming from an ivory tower to tell us that focusing on the things we cannot change is a waste of time and energy. But have you tried letting go of the things, events and encounters that are outside the realm of your control? It is easier said than done, right?