The Daily Stoic15 Marras 2019

Don’t Run From Pain, Embrace It

It makes sense that we avoid pain. We don’t want to cause it and we don’t want to feel it. We’d rather life be easy. This makes sense—at least in the short term.

But the Stoics knew that in the long term, such an attitude made you weak, made you soft. The NASCAR driver and student of Stoicism, Brad Keselowski, recently talked about how Stoicism has taught him to take whatever is hardest or most difficult in his life and “double down and appreciate it.” Because it’s teaching you something. Because it’s making you stronger. Too many people run from pain, he said, but that’s the wrong way to do it. “Over time,” he said, “you start to realize that pain is your body flushing out weakness.”

In Seneca’s writing, we see that theme come up time and time again: Don’t be afraid of challenges. They are preparing you for an uncertain future. In Marcus Aurelius we see him look even at physical pain—we get the sense that Marcus Aurelius had some chronic injuries or illnesses—as a kind of crucible that was forging him into being a stronger person. You can endure this, he would say over and over again. You can get through this. You will get through this.

Of course, we should not be glib about pain or misfortune in life, but we can take all of these ideas and apply them to what we face today. There’s no need to turn away from what comes our way. Instead, we can embrace it. We can double down and appreciate what we had to do—even though it’s hard. Amor Fati. We can endure. We can flush weakness out.

And we can become better and stronger for it. Whatever it is.

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(2985)

This Is Inseparable From Living a Good Life

The four Stoic virtues are not supposed to be pursued in isolation. Instead, they come together under the idea of virtue itself.📚 Pre-order The Four Virtues Boxed Set: https://dailystoic.com/virtuesb...

13 Touko 3min

The Stoic Code General Mattis Lives By

General Jim Mattis has spent his life proving that philosophy is not just for the classroom. In today’s episode, Margaret Hoover interviews General Mattis, former U.S. Secretary of Defense, and Ryan a...

13 Touko 28min

BONUS | Ryan Holiday Responds to Daniel Radcliffe

In a recent interview, Daniel Radcliffe talked about the book "How To Hide an Empire" which has been one of Ryan's favorite reads lately. Here are some of his takeaways.You can grab a copy of How To H...

12 Touko 8min

No, This Is The Mission | Kindness Is Always The Right Response

You thought you were supposed to be doing this. You thought your job was to do that. But then what happened? Life happened. Stuff happened. Other people happened.📕 Pick up a copy of the 10th Annivers...

12 Touko 8min

It Can Change Everything | A Real-Life Example of How to Build a Coaching Tree

Great leaders don’t just build winning teams, they build people who can go on to lead without them. In today’s episode, Ryan talks about the idea of “growing a coaching tree” and what it means to crea...

11 Touko 25min

We Owe It All To Them | What Marcus Aurelius Learned From His Mother

In honor of Mother’s Day, Ryan talks with Donald Robertson about the powerful influence Marcus Aurelius’ mother had on his life and philosophy. Even though Stoicism is usually talked about as a philos...

10 Touko 13min

Rock Bottom, Recovery, and Starting Over at 40 | Jon Gustin

Jon Gustin got sober at the beginning of 2023, but as he explains in today’s episode, getting sober was not the end of the struggle. It was the beginning of finally facing everything he had spent year...

9 Touko 22min

The Stoic All the Stoics Admired

Cato’s life was his philosophy, and the Stoics never stopped looking to his example. In today’s episode, Ryan explores why Cato the Younger became one of Stoicism’s most admired figures, and what his ...

8 Touko 30min