Welcome to the Daily Dad podcast, where we provide one lesson every single day to help you with your most important job, being a parent.

I'm Ryan Holiday, and I draw these lessons from ancient philosophy, modern psychology, practical wisdom, and insights from

parents just like you all over the world. Thank you for listening, and we hope this helps.

October 14th, pain is a part of life.

Even though you have these powers free and entirely your own, you don't use them because you still don't realize what you have or where it came from.

I am prepared to show you that you have resources and a character naturally strong and resilient.

Epictetus.

Oh, how you wish you could guarantee that they would never suffer.

Of course, you know that's not possible.

As the character in Herman Hesse's Siddhartha says,

we cannot spare our kids the suffering we have gone through in our lives.

We cannot prevent them from suffering altogether because suffering and pain are a part of life. As a parent, the goal is to raise

kids who are tough enough, loved enough, to deal with what life is going to throw at them. We don't want

them to suffer, but when the suffering

comes and it's definitely coming. We want them to be able to endure the initial shock, navigate

its ups and downs, and then learn from the consequences. Think about that today. Think about

toughening your kids up. Think about preparing them for an uncertain future.

Because that is the one thing we know for certain.

Things are going to be tough.

Things will go wrong.

More pandemics and emergencies and recessions and heartbreak lie ahead.

Our kids are going to have to be ready for it.

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