Victory Pools

Just another successful swimmer pool remodel!
Plaster, tile, coping, plus deck work....

Victory Pools Complete pool remodeling services including Plaster, tile, coping, decks,weekly service, pump repair,filter cleaning and repair, and lights. 713.204.0126

Why do some people remain free even when life takes away almost everything they have? Epictetus spent his life answering this question. Born around 55 AD in Hierapolis, he was born into slavery and later became a student of the Stoic philosopher Musonius Rufus. He had no control over his social position, wealth, or physical circumstances, yet he devoted his life to understanding the one thing he believed every person could control: their own mind.

The turning point in his life came when he gained his freedom and began teaching philosophy in Rome. But when Emperor Domitian expelled philosophers from Rome, Epictetus moved to Nicopolis and established his own school. He never wrote books himself. His teachings were preserved by his student Arrian in works such as The Discourses and The Enchiridion.

One lesson Epictetus learned from living without freedom was that external circumstances do not completely determine our inner life. You may lose money, status, health, or possessions, but your judgment and response remain yours. For him, freedom was not getting everything you want. It was learning to want what is within your control.

As Epictetus once said:

“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”

His life reminds us that freedom is not always about changing the world around you. Sometimes it begins with realizing that the only territory you truly govern is your own mind.

Just another successful pool remodel.