107: Seneca's Consolation to Helvia

Today well begin to talk about the Late Stoa. This episode focuses on Seneca and we'll read one of his early works. A letter that he wrote to his mother while he was exiled to the island of Corsica. https://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Of_Consolation:_To_Helvia
There are a few main pointers we can take from Seneca's letter
1.Always put things into perspective. When we face hard times we can remember past times where we struggled and prevailed, or look to examples from others. What is happening to us is not out of the ordinary.
2.If we mentally prepare ourselves for hard times, they will not surprises us and they will not upset us
3.Exile is not an evil, just a change of location and a change that offers one a chance to ponder the important things in life
4.Philosophy is the best way to overcome grief and sorrow
5.Until we are sages, we may also need pragmatic shortcuts to overcoming our passions.