On: Heaven and hell, optimism and more
Vainqueur Niyotwagira
Learning the Business of Biotech Manufacturing | Also sharing some insights on parenting & career from my own experience
This issue was first published in my biweekly newsletter: The Sovereign Stoic.
Each issue is designed to spark your curiosity, broaden your understanding of different facets of life, and inspire you.
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Today's Snapshot
1-On satisfaction
The biggest lie we often tell ourselves is that certain things will bring us lasting satisfaction once acquired or achieved.
We convince ourselves that a new, higher-paying job or the latest gadget will finally bring contentment. However, this perspective is fundamentally flawed.
Conditioning our satisfaction on external factors creates a never-ending cycle of unfulfilled desires. Once we achieve something, we quickly crave more, setting yet another condition for happiness.
In reality, if you don't find satisfaction in your present circumstances, nothing external will ever be enough.
Having ambitions and aspirations is crucial. However, anchoring your satisfaction solely on achieving those goals is a recipe for disappointment.
Therefore, satisfaction is a choice, not an attainment. You choose to be content; you cannot acquire it.
2-On optimism
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I recently read an issue of a newsletter from one of my favorite creators, and this quote stood out to me:
“Optimists don’t believe in magic – they just believe that if they do their part, good things will happen. They control the controllable.”
It resonates with me because it reminds me of the concept that has helped make the most important changes in how I live: there are things within our control, and things outside of our control. My task is to focus on the things I can control.
Effort, attitude, and discipline are some of those things I can control. And that's what the quote highlights.
You can read the newsletter issue here
3-On gene therapies and the era of miracles
The coming decades will be remembered as the 'decades of miracles in medicine and wellness.'
A few weeks ago, I read about a therapy that could restore hearing to deaf children. Before 2023, there had never been a medical means to restore hearing.
This is truly life-changing!
Though there is still limited understanding of the potential long-term effects of this gene modification therapy, it appears to be safe thus far.
One of the first patients to benefit from this new therapy is little Opal.
You can watch her after receiving the therapy here.
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4-On your personal board of advisors
This is the most interesting concept I’ve came across recently.
Many people understand the purpose and function of boards of advisors in organizations like companies and NGOs.
The people on a board of a typical organization have either general expertise in business or the sector(s) the company operates in, or a stake in the company. Sometimes it's a combination of both.
They can help steer the organization, provide insight on practices that could benefit it, help it navigate troubles or avoid them altogether. In some cases, they provide oversight for the organization’s operation.
Board members usually have different backgrounds that complement each other's.
This same framework can be applied to an individual, in a framework called a personal board of advisors.
Think of yourself as an organization, and who you would want to be on your board of directors/advisors.
In my case, this is how my personal board of advisors would look:
Friends and colleagues who are on the same life or career path as me. They can provide support, encouragement, and we can bounce ideas off each other. Since I'm married, having some of them be married as well would be ideal, and since I have kids, it would be beneficial if some of them also had kids.
These are people who can help and guide me towards a desired outcome. I know or think they have experience because they have achieved things I would like to achieve, or have been on the path I am taking.
I would also want different experts to offer deep insights into some areas of personal and professional life that I don't quite understand.
Building your personal board is simply about identifying the people in your life who can offer different perspectives and support. Surrounding yourself with these people can help you navigate life's challenges in a way that's likely to make you fulfilled both personally and professionally.
5-On heaven and hell
I believe that our spirituality, which is the way we understand and connect with the divine, evolves as we grow.
My own spirituality has evolved over time, and today it is mainly shaped by three different schools of thought/philosophies: ubuntu, Christianity, and stoicism.
One of the things I have always struggled with is the notion of heaven and hell, prevalent among the Abrahamic religions.
Stoic philosopher and Roman emperor, Marcus Aurelius, wrote in his meditations that a man who pursues pleasure will not hold back from doing injustice. He also adds that when we do something we know is wrong (sin in Abrahamic religions), we are wronging ourselves first, because it goes against what we consider moral.
This is interesting because it reflects one of the ways I think about God. I don't think God cares whether we sin or not. It's more for our own good that we don't do wrong or sin, because it corrupts our soul, makes us feel guilt, uneasy, restless, and regretful.
Repenting, which is recognizing or admitting to others or yourself that you did wrong, and making amends to those whom you might have wronged, is therefore a good way to restore oneself from that uneasiness. It's for your own sake.
This perspective assumes a belief in a highest truth and a universal justice. Believing this doesn't mean you will always live up to it. However, the acknowledgment itself is enough because it steers you back towards what you believe is true, good, and just.
In my opinion, heaven is a state where you have few regrets when you pass away, because you lived according to what you knew is just, good, and true, and repented when you realized you were not living according to your morals.
And hell would then be the opposite: dying with many regrets because you knew you were not just at multiple occasions and never changed course or that you didn't act or live according to the highest truth.
Not living in sin is therefore for ourselves, more than it's for God to like.
P.S: Each issue of The Sovereign stoic is a combination of my own original thoughts and reflections, and some of the things I learn from exploring and reading other peoples' works
It's designed to spark your curiosity, broaden your understanding of different facets of life, and inspire you.
If you found some inspiration or learned something, I would greatly appreciate it if you could repost or share a quote from your favorite paragraph.