You must build up your life action by action… and no one can keep you from this. - Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.32

Calling on Stoic optimism has been vitally important in recent months as I faced a series of illnesses and losses among my family and loved ones. These experiences provided me with multiple opportunities to practice Stoic philosophy and call on needed strengths when facing issues that are outside of my control. They also reminded me that Stoic optimism is not blind faith or the false reassurance that things will turn out as we wish or hope them to.

Instead, Stoic optimism is the disciplined practice of meeting hardship with virtue, clarity, and consistency. It’s also viewing challenges as opportunities to demonstrate resilience rather than simply as reasons for despair. This outlook has tested my commitment to gratitude, strength of character, and reasoned action. But it has also reassured me that I have better tools available to me to navigate these concerns.

Hope, yes; comforting stories, no

Even though we might naturally hope for the best, Stoic optimism does not allow us to tell ourselves comforting stories or promise outcomes beyond our control. Instead, we commit to strengthening the mind and body for whatever must be faced. This was most recently the case when I received the call that my cousin had fallen down fifteen narrow, wooden stairs shortly after returning home from a hospitalization that had already ended in an unexpected surgery and resulting infection.

Carrying our steadiness with us

Not knowing what awaited me, walking into her ICU room required resolve. I used the drive to the hospital to practice negative visualization so that I could prepare myself to handle whatever lay ahead. When I arrived, I saw that my cousin’s face was covered with stitches, her nose broken, her front teeth chipped and missing, her leg deeply gashed and bruised. In moments like these, it is often the visitor who must carry steadiness into the hospital room. That became my role in that moment, and one I had to call on many times since.

When her physical therapists seemed far too eager to release her too soon, they said, “She can walk a few steps. She’s ready to go home.” In that moment, I thought about the need for objective perception and asked about the realities still confronting her: unstable diabetes, fluctuating blood pressure, dizziness, and headaches from a traumatic brain injury. Stoic optimism raises the quality of conversation by insisting that all relevant facts be considered and that solutions be pursued rationally, not emotionally.

Active optimism

When we were told that her insurance would not cover a stay in a sub-acute facility, we appealed. We outlined practical obstacles. She could not bend forward due to her broken nose; how would she retrieve dropped medications? I asked the representative to document everything and present the full picture to the review board. Optimism here was active, precise, and grounded in reasoned advocacy.

We were successful on some things and less successful with others. As I called on my Stoic practice, I was able to accept what could not be changed, and my attention widened to what could be done: arranging care for her beloved dog, checking the mail, paying bills, doing laundry, shopping for clothes, and calling our other relatives. These tasks became lighter because they were approached without resistance, simply as duties to be fulfilled.

Never giving way to anger or pettiness

Sitting with her, even through the difficulties, we shared memories that brought warmth and laughter. She looked to me not for reassurance about the future, but for steadiness and informed wisdom in the present. Advocacy requires restraint. It means never giving way to anger, impatience, or pettiness when systems resist us. The Stoic optimism I carried into that room was not only for her; it preserved my own character.

We do not ask what tomorrow holds. We meet each day as it arrives, armed with the tools handed down by those who learned how to live well under pressure. That, to me, is Stoic optimism: trusting in our capacity to respond.

Andi Sciacca serves as the Chief Academic Officer and as the Director of Accreditation & Assessment for the European Graduate School. She is also the Environmental Sustainability Program Coordinator for the FEED MKE Program for the City of Milwaukee.

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