A life that flows smoothly is a life that is ‘”n accordance with nature.” What does it mean to be “in accordance with nature”? Let’s start with the idea that our life shouldn’t be a struggle with ourselves, with others or with the way things are. A life well lived is not conflicted. Such a life is said to be ‘in accordance with nature’. 

To live in accordance with nature we have to live in harmony at two levels: within and without. Our actions should be in harmony with our nature (who we are) and with the nature of the world (what the world is). 

Living in harmony with our nature. What is our nature? We are not distinguished from other animals by our physical prowess. We cannot fly like an eagle, pounce like tiger, hop like a kangaroo, swim like a fish, run like a rabbit, or hunt like a lion. Yet we dominate this earth. How? Because of our ability to reason, something that no other animal can do as well. This is what distinguishes us the most from other animals. This is our nature. So, living in accordance with our nature means living a life of reason, a life of rationality. Over this we have control. 

Living in harmony with the nature of the universe. It is not enough to live in accordance with our nature. We should also live in harmony with the world outside (the universe). So, what is the nature of “the universe”? The nature of the universe is what is – the totality of what is happening, what we call reality. We have no general control over reality: earthquakes, storms, famine, people dying, our loved ones getting sick, traffic jams, who got elected and the like. We don’t control these events. They are a part of reality. To be in harmony, we don’t mentally struggle with reality. (This doesn’t mean we are always passive. We also act when things are going against us. But we do so without mentally struggling against reality because our mental struggle doesn’t change reality. Our actions might.) 

To live in accordance with nature means we live a life of reason, while accepting the reality of things and events around us as they are. When we don’t live this way, our life does not flow well, because we are obstructing it by our irrationality and our refusal to see reality as it is. 

I will not become an obstacle to myself. 

Agrippinus, Quoted by Epictetus Discourses 1.1.28 So, to create a life that flows well we need to live in accordance with nature. This means we should live a rational life that does not conflict with reality. What does it mean in practice? What defines a rational life? How do we avoid conflicts with reality? What is the touchstone that will tell us whether or not we are living according to nature? 

We can identify everything that happens to be either in our control or not in our control. If you want to stop breathing for the next 10 seconds, it is under your control. If you want everyone in the world to be happy, it is not under your control. If you want to be kind to someone, it is under your control. If you want someone to be kind to you, it is not under your control. 

If we examine what we do or do not control, we will see that we control everything that comes from us: how we feel about things, what we agree to or disagree with, whether we want to act one way or another - what we call the internals. We don’t control what happens in the natural world, how others think, feel and act, whether it rains or shines, whether our loved ones live or die – what we call the externals. 

A rational person is aware of this distinction and confines their thoughts and actions to what is under their control, the internals. 

This is rationality. 

The second part of this is to avoid conflict with reality (that is, “the universe” as is). Since reality is not under our control, we accept the way things are. When we accept reality as is – accidents, natural disasters, and personal tragedies – then we are not in conflict with the universe. (Again, this does not mean that we don’t act. We do and we will come back to this later.) 

In the next few training sessions, we will expand on this theme and provide practical guidelines to live according to nature to create a life that flows well. Although we talk about everyday life, the same principles apply even when you face more difficult situations in life such as losing a job, going through a divorce, or being diagnosed with some serious illness. This will become obvious as we go through the course. 

We must do what follows from nature…We should neither miss noticing what nature expects of us nor accept anything that conflicts with it. 

Epictetus Discourses 1.26.2 (Chuck Chakrapani, Stoic Foundations, Ch.26) 

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This is the fourth article in the series based on HOW TO BE A STOIC WHEN YOU DON’T KNOW HOW, a 10-week training course that is currently being developed by The Stoic Gym.

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