Bear Belly Adventures

A monthly reflection series

I’ve been down a long road with more than a few mental health bumps and ruts along the way. Over the past few years, I’ve been reading Stoicism — not as a cure, but as a way to steady myself.

This time of year, mornings are still in the 40s and 50s. I make a cup of coffee with a little hot cocoa mix and a splash of vanilla whisky, sit down at my all-purpose desk-table, and write. I listen to a quote of the day and scribble a few thoughts into my notebook.

As I sit there, the cold slowly settles in. The sun hasn’t cleared the mountain peaks yet, but there’s a soft glow outlining them.

I could complain about the temperature. It wouldn’t change anything. The air would still be cold. Mother Nature is stubborn like that.

So instead, I adjust. I put on a knit cap. A long-sleeve shirt. I wait for the sun to warm my back.
That small shift — changing myself instead of the weather — feels simple. But it hasn’t always been simple for me.

There were years when I tried to change people. Change situations. Change outcomes that were never in my control to begin with. I wasted a lot of energy fighting reality.

Recently, during a windstorm, my camera setup blew over. The frame bent. The LCD cracked. My first reaction was anger — sharp and immediate. I should have known better than to leave it up.  But once the initial surge passed, I realized something: I can’t turn back the clock. I can’t un-bend metal. I can’t reverse gravity.

I can only decide what happens next.

Anger won’t fix the camera. It only lingers if I let it.

So I took a breath and shifted from anger to problem-solving. Not because I’m enlightened — but because I’m tired of letting things outside my control drag me down.

That’s what Stoicism has become for me.

Not a philosophy about suppressing emotion.

Not pretending things don’t hurt.

But learning where my control actually begins — and where it doesn’t.

Some days it’s as small as putting on a hat and waiting for the sun.

Some days it’s bigger.

Either way, I’m trying to focus on what I can control and let the rest pass through without taking more of me than it deserves.