Accepting The Little Facts of Life

The Daily Stoic

Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures

Education, Daily Stoic, Society & Culture, Stoic, Stoicism, Self-improvement, Business, Stoic Philosophy, Philosophy, Ryan Holiday

4.6 • 4.7K Ratings

🗓️ 18 October 2018

⏱️ 3 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

In the late 1800s, Theodore Roosevelt was on a hunting trip in Big Hole Basin in Montana. The trip did not get off to a good start. Upon getting off the train, and searching for a wagon to transport them, Roosevelt and his party immediately ran into the first of many issues. The wagon they found was overpriced, the harnesses were rotting and falling apart, and the horses were spoiled and ill-trained. There wasn’t much use in complaining, Roosevelt later wrote in his wonderful hunting memoir, The Wilderness Hunter, because “on the frontier one soon grows to accept little facts of this kind with bland indifference.”

Because what’s the alternative? Let it ruin the trip? Yell at the horses? Fix the harnesses with your anger? In fact, part of the appeal of the outdoors lifestyle is that it’s a challenge and that it tests us in these little ways. Camping and hunting, the Stoics would have said, are both great metaphors and great training for the difficulties of life.

Bad luck continued on the trip, with mishap after mishap. The wagon got mired at various crossings, the horses were a constant struggle, and the weather was freezing. At one point, it looked like the weather was set to take an even more serious turn. Roosevelt turned to his partner and said casually that he would “rather it didn’t storm.” His partner, even more stoic than Roosevelt, stopped his whistling, looked at him and said, “We’re not having our rathers on this trip,” then cheerfully resumed whistling.

The truth is, we don’t get our rathers in life either. All of us are pulled along by Fate, or the logos as the Stoics would call it, as well as by Fortune. Sometimes they line up with what we want, sometimes they don’t. That’s why amor fati is the right attitude. We have to embrace it. We have to accept the little facts of life. Bland indifference is a start, but cheerful whistling is even better.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stoke Podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today.
0:13.6	Welcome to the Daily Stoke. For each day, we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life.
0:23.3	Each one of these passages is based on the 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at DailyStoke.com.
0:38.3	Accepting the little facts of life. In the late 1800s, Theodore Roosevelt was on a hunting trip in Big Hole Basin in Montana. The trip did not get off to a good start. Upon getting off the train and searching for a wagon to transport them,
0:51.3	Roosevelt and his party immediately ran into the first of many issues. The wagon they found was overpriced, the harnesses were rotting and falling apart, and the horses were spoiled and ill-trained. There wasn't much use in complaining.
1:05.3	Roosevelt later wrote in his wonderful hunting memoir, The Wilderness Hunter, because, quote, on the frontier, one soon grows to accept the little facts of life, this kind, with bland indifference.
1:18.3	Because what was the alternative? Let it ruin the trip, yell at the horses, fix the harnesses with your anger. In fact, part of the appeal of the outdoor's lifestyle is that it is a challenge and that it tests us in these little ways.
1:32.3	Camping and hunting, the Stokes would have said, are both great metaphors and great training for the difficulties of life. Bad luck continued on the trip with mishap after mishap.
1:43.3	The wagon got mired at various crossings, the horses were a constant struggle, and the weather was freezing. At one point, it looked like the weather was set to take an even more serious turn.
1:54.3	Roosevelt turned to his partner and said casually that he would rather it didn't storm. His partner, even more stoic, and Roosevelt stopped his whistling, looked at him and said, we're not having our rathers on this trip.
2:09.3	And then cheerfully resumed whistling. The truth is, we don't get our rathers in life either. All of us are pulled along by fate or the logos as the stoics would call it, as well as by fortune. Sometimes they line up with what we want, sometimes they don't.
2:24.3	That's why Amor Fati is the right attitude. We have to embrace it. We have to accept the little facts of life.
2:31.3	Blended difference is a start, but cheerful whistling is even better. And check out the Amor Fati medallion, as well as the Amor Fati necklace. We have in the daily stoke store.
2:41.3	I carry the medallion on me everywhere that I go. It's just this wonderful reminder you can touch it, and you can take that blend and difference to the kind of cheerful whistling that Roosevelt was talking about.
2:53.3	We don't get our rathers in life. And so we might as well embrace the things that have happened to us. So go to dailystoic.com slash store.
3:03.3	Hey, prime members, you can listen to the daily stoic early and add free on Amazon music. Download the Amazon music app today, or you can listen early and add free with Wondering Plus in Apple podcasts.

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