The Discipline of Desire
Training desire to want only what is virtuous and accept what nature brings creates lasting contentment.
Epictetus's three disciplines include the discipline of desire: wanting only what is truly good (virtue) and accepting all else as it comes. This is not passive resignation but active spiritual training that gradually changes what one actually desires, creating a reliable and renewable source of satisfaction independent of external fortune.
Make the best use of what is in your power.
Epictetus's three disciplines provide a structured psychological training program that modern Stoic practitioners find practically applicable.
Enchiridion
Written about in
- What Stoicism says about fear and anxiety
Train what you want and much of what you feared loses its grip. The entry is clear that this is gradual training, not a single decision made once.
- What Stoicism says about envy and comparison
The discipline of desire is training in what you want, not suppression of wanting — you practise until virtue is the thing desired and the rest is accepted as it arrives. Stoics treated this as slow work, nearer to physical training than to a resolution.