It’s Just Happening | Ask Daily Stoic
The Daily Stoic
Daily Stoic | Backyard Ventures
4.5 • 5.3K Ratings
🗓️ 20 January 2023
⏱️ 14 minutes
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Summary
It feels terrible to hear that someone is breaking up with you. Or that your retirement portfolio has dropped significantly in recent months. To find out that the company you’ve invested your entire career in is laying you off. That your father doesn’t accept the person you love or how you live your life.
We want it to be otherwise, so we’re disappointed. It hurts, so we take it personally. In Meg Mason’s novel Sorrow and Bliss (listen to our great podcast episode with Meg), Martha Friel's mother, who had always been unhappy and resentful, goes into recovery and stops drinking. With time, she comes to realize that she had been living life as if it was happening to her. The adversity. The losses. The frustrations. The disappointments. In actuality, none of this happened to her. It was just happening. It just was.
In today's Ask Daily Stoic, Ryan answers questions after a presentation about applying Stoic principles to modern life. His answers cover which books about or by Marcus Aurelius you should read, and the events in Ryan's life that brought him closer to Stoicism.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, where each day we read a passage of ancient wisdom |
| 0:08.8 | designed to help you in your everyday life. |
| 0:11.8 | But on Fridays, we not only read this daily meditation, but I try to answer some questions |
| 0:16.6 | from listeners and fellow stoics who are trying to apply this philosophy, whatever it is they |
| 0:21.9 | happen to do. |
| 0:23.5 | Sometimes these are from talks. |
| 0:25.1 | Sometimes these are people who come up to talk to me on the street. |
| 0:28.4 | Sometimes these are written in or emailed from listeners, but I hope in answering their |
| 0:33.4 | questions, I can answer your questions, give a little more guidance on this philosophy |
| 0:38.9 | we're all trying to follow. |
| 0:47.4 | It's just happening. |
| 0:50.9 | It feels terrible to hear that someone is breaking up with you or that your retirement |
| 0:56.1 | portfolio has dropped significantly in recent months. |
| 0:59.5 | To find out that the company you've invested your entire career in is laying you off. |
| 1:05.2 | Your father doesn't accept the person you love or how you live your life. |
| 1:09.7 | We want it to be otherwise so we're disappointed. |
| 1:12.4 | It hurts so we take it personally. |
| 1:15.0 | In Meg Mason's wonderful novel, Sorrow and Bliss, a great podcast episode with her, Martha's |
| 1:21.0 | mother, who has always been unhappy and resentful, goes into recovery and stops drinking. |
| 1:27.0 | With time she comes to realize that she had been living life as if it was happening to |
| 1:32.1 | her, the adversity, the losses, the frustrations, the disappointments. |
| 1:37.0 | In actuality, none of this happened to her. |
... |
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