Where to use the wand of control II: Faculty of Desire

By watedroplet

The second field where we can execute our wand of control is the arena of desires. This arena is responsible for our desires and fears. It gives us the freedom to dream of anything and everything. Life without dreams is like the dust on the earth, which is led by the wind. It has no direction of its own but goes where the wind takes it. The same is true with our lives. We fail to have an address for our destination if we fail to desire and dream. 

    The other side of it is also true. If we choose to desire and dream uncontrollably, this will lead to frequent failures, and failures will instil fear in us, which completely ruins our self-esteem and self-confidence. This is also not good. 

    Epictetus guides our way here. He says that we should use this faculty of desire to wisely explore and evaluate our desires and choose rational ones as our final desires. This process of evaluating our every desire will visualise our hidden fears and crippling desires. We are supposed to understand these irrational desires and reject them. In this way, we will protect ourselves from fear and also find our desires and dreams that will give us happiness. 


This post is a part of Write a Page a Day at www.theblogchatter.com 

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