You can live on a thousand things and still be content with yourself

In the previous text I told you that the wise man lives on a thousand things but is satisfied with himself.

In an archetypal reading of what the Stoic course is about, I could have begun with "the wise man is content with himself"

As a follower of Stoic teachings, you may have imagined that your happiness lies in yourself and only in yourself; that the pursuit of wisdom means being completely self-sufficient.

Stoics tells us that this is not necessarily what being wise means,
to be wise means, above all, to live like a human being: Socialize, raise a family, work, and have fun, as well.

But the wise person knows that certain things that gladden his heart sometimes escape him.

Here is a long passage from Seneca which I want to share with you :

“’The wise man is self-sufficient.’This phrase, my dear Lucilius, is incorrectly explained by many; for they withdraw the wise man from the world, and force him to dwell within his own skin.
But we must mark with care what this sentence signifies and how far it applies;
the wise man is sufficient unto himself for a happy existence, but not for mere existence.
For he needs many helps towards mere existence; but for a happy existence he needs only a sound and upright soul, one that despises Fortune.
I should like also to state to you one of the distinctions of Chrysippus, who declares that the wise man is in want of nothing, and yet needs many things. ‘On the other hand,’ he says, ‘nothing is needed by the fool, for he does not understand how to use anything, but he is in want of everything.’ The wise man needs hands, eyes, and many things that are necessary for his daily use; but he is in want of nothing. For want implies a necessity, and nothing is necessary to the wise man. Therefore, although he is self-sufficient, yet he has need of friends. He craves as many friends as possible, not, however, that he may live happily; for he will live happily even without friends.
The Supreme Good calls for no practical aids from outside;
it is developed at home,
and arises entirely within itself.
If the good seeks any portion of itself from without, it begins to be subject to the play of Fortune.
People may say: ‘But what sort of existence will the wise man have, if he be left friendless when thrown into prison, or when stranded in some foreign nation, or when delayed on a long voyage, or when cast upon a lonely shore?’ His life will be like that of Jupiter, who, amid the dissolution of the world, when the gods are confounded together and Nature rests for a space from her work, can retire into himself and give himself over to his own thoughts.
In some such way as this the sage will act; he will retreat into himself,
and live with himself.
As long as he is allowed to order his affairs according to his judgment, he is self-sufficient – and marries a wife; he is self-sufficient – and brings up children; he is self-sufficient – and yet could not live if he had to live without the society of man. Natural promptings, and not his own selfish needs, draw him into friendships.” 

¹

This text by Seneca leads us back to the Stoic theory already examined, according to which the aspiring sage is satisfied with what happens to him, and all that is external to him is indifferent. All externals are preferred indifferents or non-preferred indifferents. Through his actions, the sage will naturally try to work for his own well-being, be it his material well-being, his projects or his relationships with others.

On the surface, the ideas may seem contradictory: being content with what you have while seeking and finding happiness in external things?

It's about perception, judgment and action.

The thousand things around you'll bring you happiness if you have done what was necessary for them to be there. But if you have done what was necessary and still don't have access to that happiness, it's because fate wants it that way at that moment.

That's why I told you earlier that there are only two things outside of you:
Preferred indifferents,
 and non-preferred indifferents:
which are **consequences**:
whatever happens is indifferent to you, because the only things that matter and over which you have control are the correctness of your judgment, the discipline of your desire, and the performance of appropriate actions. This is the result of the thousand things that surround you.