The Evening Review
The Evening Review is a Stoic practice of deliberately looking back over your day, judging your own actions against your own values, and using what you find to do better tomorrow. The Stoics had no single Greek term for it, but it grows from the broader practice of self-examination they called "episkepsis" (a Greek word meaning close inspection or scrutiny). This week you will learn what the Evening Review is, why the Stoics thought it was essential, and how to make it a living habit rather than just a ritual.
Passage
This is what I wish to be engaged in when death finds me, so that I may be able to say to God, "Have I in any respect transgressed Thy commands? Have I in any respect misused the resources which Thou gavest me, or used my senses to no purpose, or my preconceptions? Have I ever found any fault with Thee? Have I blamed Thy governance at all?
— Epictetus, Discourses 3.5.8
Reflection
Epictetus imagines being found by death in the middle of his work and being ready to answer for it directly. This is the Evening Review taken to its ultimate point: if tonight were the final review, could you account for how you used what you were given? He lists the specific questions he would ask: Did I misuse my resources? Did I use my senses to no purpose? Did I blame the way things are instead of working with them? These are not abstract. They are a template for the review itself, and they reveal what the Stoics thought a day well spent actually looks like.
Go deeper
If tonight were the last time you ever reviewed a day, which of Epictetus's questions would you find hardest to answer honestly, and why?
Practice
Answer for Today
This evening, take Epictetus's questions and apply them to your actual day. Write one honest sentence in response to each: Did I misuse any of the resources available to me? Did I use my attention to no purpose? Did I blame circumstances rather than responding to them?