A Senecan dictionary of frustration
At the heart of every frustration lies a basic structure: the collision of a wish with an unyielding reality.
Anger
And in the Senecan view what makes us angry are dangerously optimistic notions about what the world and other people are like.
We aren't overwhelmed by anger...... only when we believe ourselves entitled to obtain (something).
We will cease to be so angry once we cease to be so hopeful.
Shock
Because we are injured by what we do not expect...... we must, proposed by Seneca, hold the possibilty of disaster in mind at all times.
Sense of Injustice
In cases where one acts correctly but still suffers disaster, one is left bewildered and unable to fit the event into a scheme of justice.
But we cannot always explain our destiny by referring to our moral worth...... Not everything which happens to us occurs with reference to something about us.
Anxiety
Seneca more wisely asks us to consider that bad things probably will occur, but adds that they are unlikely every as bad as we fear.
Mockery
It is tempting, when we are hurt, to believe that the thing/person which hurt us intended to do so......'the pencil fell off the table in order to annoy me.'
Conclusion
Of course, there would be few great human achievements if we accepted all frustrations......for Seneca, wisdom lies in correctly discerning where we are free to mould reality according to our wishes, and where we must accept the unalterable with tranquility.
excerpts from The Consolations of Philosophy,
by Alain De Botton
