The Daily Stoic5 Nov 2019

Don't Die Before Your Time

We’re busy. We’re tired. We have so much to do. We had dreams once, sure, but they slowly deflated. The mortgage, the kids, the job, watching TV, that’s how we fill our days.

It’s a slow downward spiral that Bruce Springsteen sang about in Racing in the Street:

Some guys they just give up living

And start dying little by little, piece by piece

If you’re not that guy, you at least know him or her. They’re a mainstay of the modern world. Overworked, undersexed, overtired, and underappreciated. Facebook is to blame right? The capitalist pigs are responsible, yeah? It’s because of the 24-hour news cycle.

Certainly none of those things help, but the truth is that this is a timeless problem. It goes back much further than Bruce or even this century. Because Seneca spoke about those guys too. “How much time has been lost to groundless anguish,” he writes, “greedy desire, the charms of society; how little is left to you from your own store of time.” Wake up, he says. Stop sleepwalking. Stop giving away what you can never get back. That’s from his essay The Shortness of Life, where he tried to get the reader—as Bruce Springsteen does in his best songs—to “realize that you're dying before your time."

We only get one life. Once time ticks by, it never comes back. Yes, each of us will die. That’s a fact. But for the moment, we’re alive. Which is why we have to live. Which is why we have to protect our time, our dreams, our spirit. We can’t give it up piece by piece. We can’t start dying before our time.

We have to live. Now. While we still can.

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

Det här avsnittet är hämtat från ett öppet RSS-flöde och publiceras inte av Podme. Det kan innehålla reklam.

Avsnitt(3113)

Jet Li on Inner Peace, Ego, and What True Strength Looks Like

Behind Jet Li’s martial arts mastery and international fame is a deeply personal journey to understand purpose, ego, and freedom. In today’s episode, he sits down with Ryan to discuss the three levels...

29 Aug 1h

BONUS | 7 Stoic Rules for Staying Disciplined

Discipline is a daily practice, and these seven Stoic rules will help you stick with it.📚 Pick up a copy of Discipline is Destiny by Ryan Holiday🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a cit...

28 Aug 3min

When It’s Not How You Imagined | Seeking Out Shipwrecks

Fortune behaves however she pleases, as Seneca put it.🎶 Song lyrics: Lost Weekend - Phoebe Bridgers📚 Books: The Daily Stoic Lives of the Stoics 🎟️ DAILY STOIC LIVE | Ryan Holiday is coming to a cit...

28 Aug 7min

Stoic Lessons From 3 Cities in 3 Days

A chaotic few days on the road gave Ryan plenty of opportunities to practice what the Stoics taught. Between disrupted travel plans and visits to museums honoring Thomas Edison, Abraham Lincoln, and R...

27 Aug 25min

This Is Where True Power Comes From

If you are a slave to your desires, if you are a slave to your fears, if you are a slave to things that were outside of your control, then you are not powerful at all. LIVE Q&A TODAY | If you get our ...

27 Aug 3min

It Takes a Guide To ‘Get’ It | 9 Core Stoic Beliefs

Wisdom doesn’t come from first impressions and it does not come easy. It’s hard work…and the only way to speed up the process is with the help of a great teacher.💡 We designed our How To Read Epictet...

26 Aug 33min

How to Be Freer Than a King

We often imagine that freedom means having more power, more money, or fewer people telling us what to do. But none of that makes us free if we cannot control ourselves.💡 We designed our How To Read E...

25 Aug 3min

Can Journalism Survive the Collapse of Trust?

When everyone else seems to be abandoning their standards, what keeps you from abandoning yours? Ryan talks with USA TODAY national correspondent Rick Jervis, author of The Devil Behind The Badge, abo...

25 Aug 19min