Lunch in Aricia
As the Senate decided his fate, as his life hung in the balance, Agrippinus worked out and then relaxed in a cold bath. Just as Cato had enjoyed one final dinner before his demise, so Agrippinus took a nice steam before news was brought to him: You have been condemned.
A normal person might have fallen on their knees or cursed the injustice. Agrippinus betrayed neither anxiety nor fear about his fate. He had only practical questions. Banishment or death? Exile, his friends said. Did they confiscate my property? No, thank god, they told him. “Very well,” he said, “we shall take our lunch in Aricia.”
Aricia was the first stop on the road out of Rome. Meaning: We might as well get this exile show under way. No use bemoaning or weeping about it. Hey, is anyone else hungry? Certainly many people — including his fellow Stoics — have responded to better circumstances with worse.
~Lives of the Stoics, Ryan Holiday and Stephen Hanselman
How do you react to terrible news? We all process things differently, no doubt, but we also have some measure of control over how we react. Upon learning of his exile, Stoic philosopher Agrippinus reacted in a way that few people do. He basically said, “Well, let’s get on with it. Are you hungry? Let grab some food on the way out of town.”
It’s a very practical approach to life. One that is difficult to cultivate, but one that we probably need to take more often than not. Things happen in life. Terrible things happen at times. This doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be upset, or that we shouldn’t allow the natural course of emotions to take place. But it’s an approach that recognizes that there are times when we just can’t do anything about it.
We can cry, beg, plead, throw a fit, get angry… but that’s not going to change anything. At the end of the day, what will it accomplish?
Certainly, this approach is easier said than done, but it’s certainly one that we can consider and condition ourselves to take.
So, the next time you receive terrible news, give yourself some time to process, and then consider… “What’s for lunch in Aricia?”
