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“It is circumstances (difficulties) which show what men are. Therefore when a difficulty falls upon you, remember that God, like a trainer <\/em>of wrestlers, has matched you with a rough young man. For what purpose? you may say. Why that you may become an Olympic conqueror; but it is not accomplished without sweat. In my opinion no man has had a more profitable difficulty than you have had, if you choose to make use of it as an athlete would deal with a young antagonist.” \u2014Epictetus<\/p>\n
“Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? Run in such a way as to get the prize. Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly; I do not fight like a boxer beating the air.” \u2014Corinthians 9:24-26<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
The ancient Greek philosopher Epictetus and the apostle Paul \u2014 though their worldviews differed \u2014 both used the metaphor of athletic contests to explain the way a man was to struggle against weakness, erroneous beliefs, and all lower impulses, in order to win the prize of higher virtue.<\/p>\n
They weren’t unique in deploying this analogy. Many early sages and saints also likened man’s attempt to conquer himself to physical exercise and the games of the sporting arena. They called their readers to become Stoic athletes, Christian athletes \u2014 spiritual athletes.<\/p>\n
These philosophers and prophets understood that it was important not only to train the body, but also to train the soul<\/em>.<\/p>\n
The Greek word for training used by both Epictetus and St. Paul \u2014 \u00e1sk<\/em>\u0113sis<\/em> \u2014 was originally associated with the physical training of athletes and soldiers, but later came to be used to describe any rigorous, disciplined program of training, including the spiritual struggle for virtue.<\/p>\n
This paradigm, in which practicing virtue is exercise; confronting personal weakness is contest, has not entirely disappeared from modern culture, but has become fainter and somewhat lost to us. It is partly for this reason that virtue and the spiritual life have come to be seen as “soft” and effeminate pursuits, despite the fact that the Latin word from which virtue derives \u2014 vir<\/em> \u2014 actually means “manliness.”<\/p>\n
Today, drawing on both the Christian and Stoic traditions (although adherence to either is not required to find usefulness in the underlying principles) we issue a wholehearted call to revive the idea of training the soul, and embrace it for the very meaningful, very “muscular” contest it is.<\/p>\n
How Training the Soul Is Like Training the Body<\/u><\/h3>\n
\u201clet the man who is rich in a worldly sense adopt in his own case the same considerations as apply to athletes. For the athlete who has given up the hope of being able to conquer, and to obtain the garlands, does not even give in his name for the contest; while the one who has conceived this hope in his mind, but does not submit to the fitting labors and diet and exercises, continues ungarlanded, and fails to gain what he hoped for.<\/p>\n
In the same way let not a man who is clothed in this earthly covering withdraw his name altogether from the Savior’s contests, if at least he is faithful, and perceives the greatness of God’s kindness to man; and again, if he refuses exercise and contest, let him not hope to share in the garlands of incorruption without the dust and sweat of the arena; but let him at once submit himself to the word as trainer, and to Christ as judge of the contests; let his food and his apportioned drink be the new covenant of the Lord, let his exercises be the commandments, let his gracefulness and adornment be good dispositions, love, faith, hope, knowledge of truth, gentleness, goodness of heart, dignity; so that, when the last trumpet sounds for the race and the departure hence, passing out of this life as out of a race-course, he may stand with a good conscience before the president, acknowledged to be worthy of the heavenly home, into which he passes up with garlands and proclamations of angelic heralds.\u201d \u2014Clement of Alexandria<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Philosophers and theologians have debated and expounded on the nature of the soul for thousands of years, and we can\u2019t hope to provide a definitive definition of it here. But for the purposes of this article, let\u2019s call the soul that part of a man\u2019s make-up that desires higher order aims over lower order impulses. It\u2019s the thing that seeks that which is life-giving, rather than life-deadening. It\u2019s your moral compass, your attraction to doing noble deeds and choosing the right. It\u2019s the capacity to reach beyond the self in order to serve others.<\/p>\n
Your soul is your spiritual center, and, traditionally, your eternal essence. However, a belief in the immortality of the soul isn\u2019t necessary for a belief in the possibility of actively training it; even if one sees it simply as the part of the psyche that\u2019s more human and advanced, and less primitive and reptilian, the protocols for exercising it still very much apply.<\/p>\n
No matter how exactly you view the soul, it lends itself to being seen as having a spiritual \u201cphysique\u201d just as real and readily shapeable as your tangible one. The spirit, like the body, has muscles that must be regularly exercised in order to maintain good health, perform optimally in everyday tasks, and come out the victor in the occasional high-stakes contest. In both cases, you are given these physiques in a raw, impressionable form; you can either let them be molded by external forces, or intentionally sculpt them into the shape you desire.<\/p>\n
Let us delve deeper into the parallels that exist between training the body and training the soul:<\/p>\n
Physical and Spiritual Strength Atrophy Without Use<\/h3>\n
All matter \u2014 physical and spiritual alike \u2014 tends towards the path of least resistance. Without intentional effort to move and exercise our fleshy bodies, we become encased in layers of fat, get winded from light activity, and cannot pick up heavy objects. Muscles get tight; joints get creaky. Should an emergency befall us, we\u2019re unable to flee or fight the danger. If forced to compete in a race or game, we would face embarrassing failure.<\/p>\n
In the same way, ignoring one\u2019s soul leads to the accumulation of spiritual flab. Our moral muscles atrophy, and we give in to sin and weakness more easily. We cannot put off temporary pleasures to achieve lasting goals. In wrestling with temptation or a heavy moral issue, we fatigue easily, and make a choice of convenience rather than principle. Or, we choose not to engage in the wrestle at all, defaulting to whatever direction our fluctuating feelings take us, or referring to a rote rule or bureaucratic expediency that may not be the best solution to the particular problem at hand. We lose our moral agility<\/em> \u2014 our capacity to exercise practical wisdom<\/a> and do the right thing, at the right time, for the right reason.<\/p>\n
Of course, the converse of the above is just as true regarding both our physical and spiritual physiques. Muscles that get used, get stronger. Get more agile. And allow you to do more and be more . . .<\/p>\n
Physical and Spiritual Strength Widens Your Freedom and Field of Action<\/h3>\n
A flabby, atrophied physical physique circumscribes your choices. This is true as a practical matter: You can\u2019t play with your kids because you\u2019re too tired; you can\u2019t climb a mountain with your friends because you\u2019re too weak; you can\u2019t lift a certain weight, even if you wanted to.<\/p>\n
A flabby, atrophied spiritual physique limits your ability to autonomously make choices at all. If you want to be faithful to your girlfriend, but hook up with an old flame, your lust is in control, not you. If you want to lose weight, but can\u2019t stop overeating, you\u2019re taking your marching orders from your belly, rather than your higher aims<\/a>. If you want to be loving to your children, but keep losing your temper, your anger is calling the shots, not your soul. If your moods and reactions are determined by external events, then you\u2019re being acted upon, rather than acting. You are not a free moral agent.<\/p>\n
In training the soul, you strengthen your self-control: you gain the ability to harness your energies towards deliberately chosen ends, to choose long-term ideals over short-term impulses, to decide how you will act, regardless of the circumstances. You become master, rather than slave. As a consequence, your options increase; your potential field of action widens.<\/p>\n
Or as former Navy SEAL Jocko Willink<\/a> succinctly puts it: \u201cDiscipline equals freedom.\u201d<\/p>\n
Physical and Spiritual Strength Require Weight and Opposition in Order to Grow <\/strong><\/h3>\n
\u201cSouls are like athletes that need opponents worthy of them, if they are to be tried and extended and pushed to the full use of their powers.\u201d \u2014Thomas Merton<\/p>\n
“Good fortune comes to common men and even to those of inferior talent; but only a great man is able to triumph over disasters and terrors afflicting mortal life. It is true that to be always happy and to pass through life without any mental distress is to lack knowledge of one half of human nature. You are a great man: but on what do I base this if Fortune denies you the opportunity to demonstrate your worth? You have entered the lists at the Olympic Games, but you are the only competitor: you win the crown, but the victory is not yours; I congratulate you, but not as a brave man, rather as one who has gained the office of consul or praetor: it is your personal standing that has been enhanced. I can make the same point also to a good man, if no more difficult circumstance has given him the chance to show his mental strength: ‘You are unfortunate in my judgement, for you have never been unfortunate. You have passed through life with no antagonist to face you; no one will know what you are capable of, not even you yourself.’ For a man needs to be put to the test if he is to gain self-knowledge; only by trying does he learn what his capacities are.” \u2014Seneca<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Physical training is essentially the act of intentionally breaking down the body with stress in order that it can be rebuilt stronger and better than before. Without this stress, no improvement can take place.<\/p>\n
In weightlifting, the stressor is the weight to be lifted. A lifter essentially pits himself against gravity as he tries to move a barbell off the floor, or raise himself up when it\u2019s sitting on his shoulders. Gravity is the opponent to be overcome; the lifter must struggle to resist its force \u2014 hence the name, \u201cresistance training.\u201d<\/p>\n
Just as the body needs to confront an opposing force in order to grow, so does the soul. In this case, the antagonists are internal: our sins and weaknesses. It\u2019s Soul vs. Lust. Soul vs. Selfishness. Soul vs. Self-Pity. Soul vs. Envy. It\u2019s a contest between the best parts of ourselves and the worst.<\/p>\n
Our souls also grapple with external combatants in the form of events and circumstances beyond our control \u2014 hardships and difficulties we are forced to face. The mere existence of these obstacles does not necessarily strengthen the soul or incur automatic benefits, however. Rather, the attitude <\/em>we take towards hardships matters, and determines their effect.<\/p>\n
In his Discourses<\/em><\/a>, Epictetus responds to a hypothetical student who wants to know if he is making progress in following the Stoic way. The philosopher says that if he were talking to an athlete who had the same question, he would ask the athlete to show him his shoulders. If the athlete instead responded by showing the weights he had been lifting, Epictetus says he would reply that he didn\u2019t ask to see the athlete\u2019s weights, but his shoulders. <\/em>What\u2019s important is not that a man has access to gym equipment, but that he is using it properly, and the proof of this is in the embodied pudding \u2014 in the size and strength of his muscles.<\/p>\n
In the same way, if you want to know if the soul is improving, you cannot look to the mere presence of difficulties in your life, but how you are facing them, using them. You can know if you\u2019re making progress by the ways you can flex your spiritual muscles, \u201chow you exercise pursuit and avoidance, desire and aversion, how you design and purpose and prepare yourself, whether conformably to nature or not.\u201d<\/p>\n
What emerges from the struggle against inner and outer demons, from the stress of pushing back against our flaws and frailties, is the development of character. The more we resist the gravitational force of our appetites, the stronger and more iron-clad our character becomes.<\/p>\n
Physical and Spiritual Strength Require Effort, and Pain<\/h3>\n
“Where then is progress? If any of you, withdrawing himself from externals, turns to his own will to exercise it and to improve it by labor, so as to make it conformable to nature, elevated, free, unrestrained, unimpeded, faithful, modest; and if he has learned that he who desires or avoids the things which are not in his power can neither be faithful nor free, but of necessity he must change with them and be tossed about with them as in a tempest, and of necessity must subject himself to others who have the power to procure or prevent what he desires or would avoid; finally, when he rises in the morning, if he observes and keeps these rules, bathes as a man of fidelity, eats as a modest man; in like manner, if in every matter that occurs he works out his chief principles <\/em>as the runner does with reference to running . . . this is the man who truly makes progress.” \u2014Epictetus<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Fitness is an encompassing lifestyle choice. It takes time. It takes effort. It takes dedication. You\u2019ve got to structure your schedule, and say no to other activities, to prioritize getting your workouts in. You\u2019ve got to follow special rules regarding what you eat, and sometimes how and when you eat. You\u2019ve got to be keenly conscious about the decisions you make regarding your diet and training.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s effort required in the actual workouts too, of course. And pain. The stress that makes your muscles grow is not a pleasant thing. Sometimes working out is enjoyable in the midst of it, and sometimes in the afterglow. But if it also doesn\u2019t hurt a little, sometimes a lot \u2014 if your legs don\u2019t burn at the bottom of a squat, if your lungs don\u2019t ache at the end of a sprint \u2014 you\u2019re not getting better. You\u2019re not getting any faster or stronger. The stress of physical training in fact creates tiny tears in your muscles. When these tears heal, the muscle is rebuilt stronger than it was before.<\/p>\n
Training the soul requires the same kind of encompassing commitment and the same submission to the tearing and repairing of your spiritual muscles.<\/p>\n
Forsaking the path of least resistance requires strenuous effort. It requires greater consciousness of your principles and your decisions. You must follow certain rules, some of which appear arbitrary to outsiders, and sometimes even to yourself. You must deliberately prioritize the practice of spiritual disciplines and look for opportunities to serve that the untrained and unprepared soul would miss, or spurn.<\/p>\n
And you must embrace a certain level of pain.<\/p>\n
Denying a lower appetite to fulfill a nobler aim is painful. Re-ordering your priorities to do more for others, and less for yourself, hurts. You must kill your native laziness. You must check your pride and learn to be humble. For virtue to live, you must die to the self. The process of striving for ideals, failing, and getting back up again \u2014 of ever trying to be a better man \u2014 creates endless tears in the tissue of the ego.<\/p>\n
Just as the body cries out for cake when forced to feed on broccoli, the flesh screams to give in to indulgence when forced to walk a harder way.<\/p>\n
Just as the body cries out to be released at the apex of a difficult lift, the flesh begs, cons, manipulates to be liberated from the strictures of discipline. \u201cJust this once won\u2019t matter,\u201d \u201cYou deserve this,\u201d \u201cThis isn\u2019t really wrong given the circumstances.\u201d<\/p>\n
No matter the lies one tells oneself in the heat of crisis, at the height of temptation, the truth is that nothing can be sculpted without pressure, nothing can be changed and rebuilt without effort and pain. Progress \u2014 whether physical or spiritual \u2014 can only be found on the other side of five seconds of grind<\/a>.<\/p>\n
Physical and Spiritual Strength Require Consistency and Habitual Practice<\/h3>\n
Working out is not a one-and-done kind of affair. You can\u2019t put in a few days of exercise, or a few weeks, or even a few years, and then stop going to the gym, and expect to maintain your fitness. It\u2019s not like putting money in a bank account, where, if you don\u2019t touch it, your investment will stay the same, and even accrue interest. Rather, fitness is like shaving, or flossing, or cleaning or any of the other regular maintenance tasks we have to do again, and again, and again, and that\u2019ll we\u2019ll never be free of. If you don\u2019t use it, you lose it.<\/p>\n
Training the soul must be engaged in regularly as well. You can never rest on your laurels, on past spiritual experiences, or former good deeds. Each day we must choose and re-choose to earnestly engage in spiritual disciplines and practices \u2014 despite changing circumstances, fluctuating feelings, and encroaching setbacks.<\/p>\n
Aristotle said that virtue was a habit like any other, and that just as we get better at playing the piano, by playing the piano, we gain virtue by doing virtuous things. Every time we attempt to deny a lower impulse to grasp a higher one we work out the soul. Every decision we make is a moral contest; even small choices matter<\/a>, not just in maintaining day-to-day spiritual health, but as preparation for a more strenuous testing. Every time we practice the virtue habit, we settle our souls in a nobler direction.<\/p>\n