This post is an exploration of the Amor Fati concept. What’s Amor Fati? Amor fati is a Stoic concept meaning love of one’s fate. It’s about resigning ourselves to circumstances so we can find this concept in the writings of Marcus Aurelius, Epictetus, and later Friedrich Nietzsche and it captures the spirit of embracing everything that happens in life, not just accepting it, but loving it deeply.
The Stoics believed that whatever happens can serve your growth if you meet it with courage and wisdom. Every challenge is an invitation to strengthen your character, to align your actions with your deeper values. It’s about fully saying yes to life the ups, the downs, the heartbreaks, the triumphs as all essential parts of your story.
Amor fati means dancing with life as it is. When things fall apart, instead of asking “Why me?” you can reframe that into wondering, “What is life showing me through this?”
Seeing the beauty in everything
Sailing through a storm on the Challenge Weekend made me stunned by the high wave around us. We could also see the cliffs of the Isle of Wight. I was scared in the inside but I didn’t let the fear to take over and crying or saying why did I put myself into that position? But for me the most important was to be on board with such inspiring individuals and creating relationships. Amor fati in Stoicsm is a concept that attracts my interest since the end of this trip. I didn’t really know about it but already applied some of its principles like managing emotions or seeing the good in any situations.
At work I used to complain about so many things. Like disrespect from customers, lazy colleagues or something not working. In my mornings I used to dread the day ahead, but through working on myself. Like in not reacting to thing that displease my but acting appropriately according to situations. Because what you speak, what you give out comes back to you like a mirror effect. Even if you say things out loud for joking you create negative biases in your mind my friends. I repeated myself thing mantra “I see the good in any situation”. I’d rather see or reflect about what’s positive in a negative situation, like contemplating the beauty of the huge waves, sailing in the middle of a storm for example.
Love and embrace your bad days
On a journey like mine I used to blame bad days. Unexpected things happening on my way, like traffic disruption, delays other things that don’t go as I wished I would like them to be. Or chaos at work or simply because your projects don’t work. I know it can be frustrating or scary at first sight especially me who designs my mornings rituals in a way to be happy. Feeling the peacefulness and the calmness of the morning meditating, journaling, reading and exercise + sunlight. The first negative situation ruined my day and made me grumpy for the rest of it. It made me sick of it to have my days ruined like that honestly.
But experience taught me that without these bad experiences or challenges you’ll never grow. You’ll never know about your limits in a way to progress and learning from the bad days. Let me tell you that it’s during your bad days when your learn the most. We all had that type of day when everything fall apart. That type of day when we doubt ourselves and meet frictions. That type of day shape you while you keep going and showing up. Friction trains resilience and we learn more about ourselves during those days. Despite discouragement, patience despite slow progress. That resilience becomes your unfair advantage when conditions improve.
What do you learn from those days?
Amor fati and accepting your condition
My condition used to frustrate me like not being able to travel as I want or not being able to do what I love. I used to believe that frustration would lead me to my dream life, but it’s not the way things work regarding change. If you put frustration in what you’re doing to get out of any unpleasant situation will doomed you to failure. Because I believed I would be where I am for the rest of my life and turned my mindset into where I am now is not my final destination. I was frustrated by my physical state, financial situation or challenges at work.
My dad used to say “follow your heart” and this perfectly resonates with me today. Following my heart in doing things I love like coaching and writing. Taking my input and maximiser strengths to deliver workshops, retreats and public speaking. Not because this sounds like bling bling or posh, but because I love getting knowledge and sharing like I’m writing this post. The first step forward is to accept your past and where you are now. Because in our journeys in life we’re all where we’re meant to be. Your past doesn’t define your future.
Awareness and acceptance is the key to really discover what you truly love in life according to your truth. Doing things that you love with love is the stepping stone of living a great life and for what you will be remembered. Coaching, sharing knowledge and connecting with people are what energise me to make me live a great life.
Final Words to practice amor fati
I most important to me is to practice gratitude on a daily basis. I express gratitude in my journal in the morning seeking what’s beautiful in my life right now? The beauty of life can be just the fact of having air and breathing or simply having a lamp while writing when it’s still dark outside. Most importantly to wake up in good health condition.
Mindfulness in being present and not judging situations of people. And I know being free from judging people is a space for growth. I face disrespect everyday from customers and not reacting or going through argument is my way to show compassion and empathy. Because we don’t know what people are going through.
Focusing on control like the traffic or commuting. I used to run for buses or train to go as quick as possible and got frustrated by delays. Because I wanted to have plenty of time in the morning to work on my coaching, blogging and learning. I’ve learned from these situations that I have to slow down and doing what really matter. I only have to focus on what I can control and if I get stuck in traffic, I simply open a book to start reading or listen to a podcast. Anger and frustration won’t change anything to any situation.
Reframing is key to see challenges as opportunities for growth. In essence, Amor Fati in Stoicsm is a radical embrace of life in its entirety. It’s a powerful mindset that can transform how you navigate challenges, find peace in uncertainty, and ultimately, live a more fulfilling and authentic life by loving every chapter of your unique story.
Transformation doesn’t happen in the light of certainty, it happens in the dark where you choose to keep going.
