The death of Queen Elizabeth II was mourned around the world. Many of her subjects were shocked by her passing and even the most cynical Brits were teary-eyed at the news.
It wasn’t due to a death. The longest reigning monarch in the world was 96 years old.
Most of the time, she was the queen of their lives. One more link to the heroic generation that survived German bombs and defeated the Third Reich was severed when she volunteered for World War II.
She has an outdated style of leadership. Queen Elizabeth II was one of the last Stoics.
Queen Elizabeth held a quiet strength
The cliché of British emotional reserve is familiar to us. She turned her duty into the total of her public life.
Our era of tell-all books and emotional incontinence made her stiff upper lip and quiet strength obsolete. Excellent anachronism.
Despite being embraced by tech bros and self-help experts, Stoicism still gets a bad reputation.
The funeral of the queen is more than just a ceremony.
The philosophy was founded in ancient Greece and refined in Rome. A dictionary defines a person as not showing or not feeling any emotion, but reading their books paints a different picture.
Stoics rejected useless, negative emotion
It was designed to maximize happiness even when life doesn’t go as planned. The best way to accomplish this is to focus on what you can control and not worry about what you can’t.
The Stoics were against negative emotions.
If the guy sideswipes you in traffic, take a deep breath and count to 10 instead of chasing him down and sideswiping him. Carry your daughter to the doctor when she hurts her ankle on a hike because you don’t want her to cry.
After a lot of practice, the stuff won’t make you crazy.
A lot of things happened over the course of 70 years. wars were waged abroad after the collapse of the British Empire. The Queen was calm and brave during the challenges. She danced with the leaders of the newly independent nations, consulted with politicians, and became the eye of the storm for her worried countrymen.
She was calm and went on.
No wonder American politics is such a mess
The difference is stark between the younger members of our political class and that of the older ones. The insulted pol posted a screamy video on social media condemning the outrage.
Partisans take their places and scream at their opponents. Politics in America are a mess.
The bait was not taken by Elizabeth. The Windsor Family motto is “Never Complain, Never Explain,” and the Queen kept it despite family scandal, cruel gossip and the media frivolities of the day, according to some.
She rose above it all despite her popularity waning and history throwing curve balls. She was a genius for seven decades.
Videos show King Charles III losing his cool over the old fashioned fountain pens and inkwells he was asked to use. He has had a rough week but maybe he could read some of the greats.
Some copies are in mum’s library.
Jon Gabriel is an editor-in-chief of Ricochet.com and a contributor to azcentral.com. The person is on the social networking site: