One of the great fears many of us face is that despite all our effort & striving we will discover at the end that we have wasted our life In A Guide to the Good Life William B Irvine plumbs the wisdom of Stoic philosophy one of the most popular & successful schools of thought in ancient Rome & shows how its insight & advice are still remarkably applicable to modern lives In A Guide to the Good Life Irvine offers a refreshing presentation of Stoicism showing how this ancient philosophy can still direct us toward a better life Using the psychological insights & the practical techniques of the Stoics Irvine offers a roadmap for anyone seeking to avoid the feelings of chronic dissatisfaction that plague so many of us Irvine looks at various Stoic techniques for attaining tranquility & shows how to put these techniques to work in our own life As he does so he describes his own experiences practicing Stoicism & offers valuable first-hand advice for anyone wishing to live better by following in the footsteps of these ancient philosophers Readers learn how to minimize worry how to let go of the past & focus our efforts on the things we can control & how to deal with insults grief old age & the distracting temptations of fame & fortune We learn from Marcus Aurelius the importance of prizing only things of true value & from Epictetus we learn how to be more content with what we have Finally A Guide to the Good Life shows readers how to become thoughtful observers of their own life If we watch ourselves as we go about our daily business & later reflect on what we saw we can better identify the sources of distress & eventually avoid that pain in our life By doing this the Stoics thought we can hope to attain a truly joyful life