Stoicism and Serenity

I was listening to some episodes on the Stoic philosophy on a podcast called The Partially Examined Life. At the end of an episode on Epictetus - which I thought was overall too negative and critical of him - one of the men mentioned the connection between the serenity prayer and Stoicism.

O God, give us the serenity to accept what cannot be changed, the courage to change what can be changed, and the wisdom to know the one from the other.

 Many people think being a Stoic means being apathetic, not allowing anything to influence you, and to feel nothing. This is not really what the Stoics proposed, though our adjective "stoic" in English connotes this. 

What the Stoics actually proposed really is summarized in the serenity prayer. There are some things in life we cannot change: unforeseen or unstoppable forces of nature, the choices others make, choices we made in the past, anything in the past, and ultimately the opinions of others. We should not give these things the power to disturb us, nor should we place our hope or happiness in them.

The goal of the Stoic is ultimately serenity. 

As St. Theresa of Avila has it, 

Let nothing disturb you,

Let nothing frighten you,

All things are passing away:

God never changes.

Patience obtains all things

Whoever has God lacks nothing;

God alone suffices.

St. Ignatius also has the principle that we should never make a change under desolation, but only under consolation. This reminds me of the advice of Epictetus: "He goes about like an invalid, being careful not to disturb, before it has grown firm, any part which is getting well."