Six Stoic Truths

Knowing these six rules can help with how you respond to difficulties and challenges in your life

My very first driving licence was taken out at the age of 16, when I was officially allowed to drive a tractor - not only in the fields as I did from the age of 14, but properly legally, and on the roads, too!
It was a great shock to my system when, at the age of roughly 18, I went on my new quest of getting my car driving licence - and failed!! (This is the theory part that I refer to here.) On a sunny afternoon, or it could have been earlier in the morning, a classmate and I made our way to the nearest town where we sat our theory test. A couple of hours later, the results were out. She passed, and I failed! Oh, the shock, the horror and the complete humiliation!!!

A few weeks later, the woman who was responsible for our care took me for a private chat. 'Einav, ' she said, 'I've not seen you smile once since that stupid test. What's going on? I shrugged my shoulders and hated the whole world for making me fail, and now I only have to go and sit it again!!

To cut a very long story short, I failed that theory test a total of 7 times, and the driving test another 8. Was I a bad driver? Of course not. I was just very nervous about tests, and in a broader sense of things, I clearly wasn't ready.

I was reminded of this sorry story when we were sitting down to a family dinner, talking about exam results and what different options can mean (my older daughter just sat her A-level exams, and the results would make a big impact on which University she'd be accepted to and so on).

I realised that back then, my way of dealing with difficulties and challenges was to simply shut down. Go inside and feel all the big emotions by myself. Not sharing, not letting anyone in - just suffering. Today, although I'm sure some would still be able to recognise this old trait, I have tools to help me at the time of need, and this is what today's email is all about...

Stoic philosophy and mindset

Stoic philosophy comes from ancient Greece and at the root of it all is the basic belief we all have about whether something we experience is in our control, or not, and as a result of that, how we deal with challenges we meet along the way.

To explain all this better and see how to use it in everyday life, here are some of the core Stoic rules you can apply to your own life and situations.

1) You can’t control what happens, only how you respond
In other words, we can't change the past or the events that took place, but we can change how we respond to them. Most of us have an innate ability to judge ourselves or to brand events as catastrophic, but what would it be like if we could separate our inner dialogue from the event and focus on rebuilding instead of down-spiraling?

2) Everything is temporary
We tend to believe that everything is permanent - the good things and the bad ones. The truth is that everything is temporary, and even if something happens which we deem 'bad', when we let go of the attachments and judgments, we will slowly come to see that things always happen the way they are meant to, and they always prepare us for where we need to be (this path rather than speed)

3) Focus on virtue, not outcome
Focusing on outcome makes us blind to the current moment, to the pause and the wisdom that comes from paying attention to the journey. When we're focused on the outcome, we lose all the beauty that in on the path, risking getting to the outcome we had in mind, only to realise it no longer matters. Allow yourself to be curious and open, and be guided to your full alignment and harmony.

4) Adversity is an opportunity
Anything that crosses our path can be categorised as 'good' or 'bad', but adversity is the invitation you've been waiting for to grow, to align, to come out of victimhood and see that you are good enough, that you do have what it takes and that it was never about anyone else clipping your wings, it was always about you. And now that you can see things differently, you can embrace what comes your way and grow wiser.

5) You are a part of the greater whole
Yikes! I know that, especially since Covid, many of us are still under the impression that we are living in silo. That being home is safe and being out there is too demanding, too challenging or just Too much with that capital T. We were told mixing with people can kill us, and regardless of whether this was true or not, what is true is that we need people to survive. So this rule is not only about treating everyone and everything with kindness and respect, but also to be reminded that the world is basically good. And when we do good, we are good and have good. It's all connected, and it's all in flow.

6) Memento Mori: remember you will die
Another yikes! Too often, we push for tomorrow what we can do today, or we wait for things to be just perfect before we get going. Sometimes we believe things will just come to us, or we have an idea that things can only happen when they match our expectations, add to that the fear of failure or of making mistakes, and we have a life half-lived and half-experienced. The truth is that there are no mistakes and no failures. There is just doing, experiencing, trying and learning on the job. If we mix all this with kindness and patience, we really can't go wrong (if there was such a thing as wrong, that is!)

More about Stoicism, their philosophies, rules and beliefs on a YouTube channel near you!
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This week in Healing Conversations...

This week in Healing Conversations, I connected with the deeply fascinating Trish Diez to talk about limiting beliefs and how they can keep us in self-sabotage and in the story of pain, conflict and more.

In today’s episode, we sit down with international coach and psychologist Trish Diez.

Trish shares her fascinating story of living across continents and navigating her own profound healing journey, from a childhood marked by violence and abandonment to a career dedicated to helping others unearth and transform the belief systems shaping their lives. Together, Trish and Einav unpack the subtle ways our beliefs influence our emotions, behaviours, and even our health, inviting listeners to question the stories they hold—and the power these stories have over their wellbeing.

Tune in for practical wisdom about dismantling limiting beliefs, reconnecting with self-love, and learning why the key to healing may simply lie in not believing everything you think. Whether you’re seeking personal insight or tools to help others, this heartfelt conversation will leave you with gentle encouragement and plenty to reflect on.

More about Trish:
I’m an Australian psychologist and life coach who left Australia 37 years ago and went on to live in the UK, France, and then Dubai.. Like many, I grew up in a home where violence was a hidden constant, while outwardly everything looked polished and respectable. I never questioned it—I didn’t know any different. It wasn’t until I held my own children close that I finally saw how deeply wrong it was. The peace I wanted for them showed me the chaos I had experienced as normal, and how profoundly it had shaped me.

As I grew older, I didn’t escape—I repeated. I walked straight into relationships that mirrored my past, mistaking control for care and pain for love. But with my children, something cracked open. I broke the chain—at least on the outside. I gave them safety, presence, and love. Yet inside, I was still ruled by the same frightened beliefs: that I was unworthy, that love had to be earned through sacrifice, that my worth depended on keeping others okay. It wasn’t until the pain of my patterns became too unbearable that I broke open – and I worked on all of my limiting beliefs holding me back in the past and preventing me from seeing the present, the REAL.

Social Links:
1) Website: https://www.mindreset.biz
2) Instagram: @MindresetME

You may also be interested in...

So often, the symptoms we experience today have roots in past lives, waiting to be understood and released in this lifetime.
Through a new 3-session past-life clearing package, you’ll be able to explore and release these patterns in the areas most important to you.

For more details: https://www.untangledhealing.c...

Dottie's Corner

My HUUMAN says I look like I'm jumping through the night sky in this photo, hihihi
I was just lying there dreaming about snacks, cuddles, and my favourite dirt patch in the garden, so it's funny this is what I looked like on the outside.

My advice for you this week is to find your own dirt patch in your garden and ground, and ground, and ground until everything feels so much more charged! You can have some water while you're out there - your body will thank you!!

Client's best quotes

People are always curious about the kind of stuff I work with my clients on, and so each week I bring a quote that helps share the healing wins people have after we work together.
If you'd like to know what we could do together to help you on your physical, mental, emotional or spiritual journey, then get in touch, here: https://calendly.com/einav-4/coaching-discovery-call

I've worked with people to help them heal all sorts of medical conditions - mostly ones the doctors couldn't find drug-free solutions for. Examples?
- Fibromyalgia
- Psoriasis
-Enlarged Prostate
- Cancer (breast, lung, Lymphoma)
- Colitis
- Chronic headaches /migraines
- Chronic back, neck shoulder pains
- Eczema
- Neuropathy
- IBS
- Sleep problems
- Thyroid problems
- Chronic Fatigue
- Long Covid
- Vertigo
- and so many more

To chat about your own conditions and how my methods can help, please book a chat using the link: https://calendly.com/einav-4/coaching-discovery-call

einav x