The Daily Stoic25 Loka 2018

Time Doesn’t Make Everything Better...It Just Makes Them What They Are

When we get dumped or we fail or we lose someone, we often hear that “Time heals all wounds” or some such remark, all of it in consolation. Obviously this is meant well, but it’s also frustrating--if only because it’s trite...and way too simple.

As Rilke wrote, “Time does not ‘console’ as people say superficially; at best it puts things in their place and it creates order.” There is a Zen story about a man whose horse ran away. People said it was bad luck. Then the horse came back, which people thought was good luck, and then his son broke his leg while falling off it and people thought that was bad luck come round again. But because his leg was broken, the man’s son was saved from fighting and dying in a war, and the cycle went on and on.

Time doesn’t make things better or worse, it simply makes them what they are. That’s why the Stoics talk about not rushing to judgment about anything, about waiting and seeing. Because we don’t know. Just giving something time isn’t automatically going to make it better--but it does at least give things a chance to shake out, for us to see the full picture. If there is one aphorism about time that we CAN rely on, that the Stoics would agree with, it's that 'time will tell.'

That’s the moral of the Zen story too. Trying to label things as good luck or bad luck is shortsighted. It assumes that all the facts have been entered into evidence. It’s better to hold off on forming an opinion, because fate is constantly unfolding around us, and today’s bad luck may very well be setting up tomorrow’s good luck (and vice versa).

Time isn’t a panacea, but it is a form of truth. So watch for it. Time will, in fact, tell.

See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Tämä jakso on lisätty Podme-palveluun avoimen RSS-syötteen kautta eikä se ole Podmen omaa tuotantoa. Siksi jakso saattaa sisältää mainontaa.

Jaksot(2981)

This Was Washington’s Philosophy | Power Fades. Character Leads.

All that we see must be illuminated by the calm light of mild philosophy. So we can see what it really is. So we don’t do anything we regret. 📚 Pick up a copy of Lincoln's Virtues: An Ethical Biograp...

16 Helmi 44min

If You Only Read a Few Books This Year, Read These

Most people don’t read that many books, maybe a few a year at most. So if you’re only going to read a couple books this year, the decision of which ones you choose becomes really important.In today’s ...

15 Helmi 13min

11 Stoic Rules For Love

Love isn’t just an emotion. It’s not just a feeling that hits you out of nowhere. It’s an action, something you can practice and something you can get better at. And while philosophy might not seem li...

14 Helmi 24min

This Kindles the Soul | Why You Can't Ignore What's Happening

Marcus Aurelius said that if you ever found anything better in life than courage, discipline, justice, and wisdom—the four virtues—it must be an extraordinary thing indeed. Which raises the question: ...

13 Helmi 15min

Do Not Delay | Dan Harris & Ryan Holiday on The Pursuit of Wisdom

Life has a way of stripping all our reasons bare, of humbling our plans and assumptions. We must live, as Marcus Aurelius said, as if death hangs over us. Because it does.👉 Listen to the full convers...

12 Helmi 13min

There’s a Rhythm. There’s a Rhythm.

It can feel like everything is falling to pieces. It can feel like you’re lost. It can feel like there’s no hope, no way forward, nothing to do. But that’s just because you’ve gotten rattled.👉 Suppor...

11 Helmi 2min

Stephen Greenblatt: Why “This Time Is Different” Is Always Wrong

Why do the same patterns keep showing up in completely different centuries? In this episode, Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Stephen Greenblatt joins Ryan to discuss how power, fear, ego, and insecur...

11 Helmi 55min

You Have to Fight for It | Is There A Dark Side To Stoicism?

It would be wonderful if the world was naturally just, if people were automatically good, always doing the right thing. But of course, they don’t. 📕 Read more stories that will inspire you to live wi...

10 Helmi 26min