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Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Little Happier: An Ancient Story Is a Reminder that We Can Hurt People When We Try to Force Them to Fit into Our Model.

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Gretchen Rubin / The Onward Project

Education, Health & Fitness, Self-improvement

4.713K Ratings

🗓️ 18 January 2021

⏱️ 3 minutes

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

The famous Greek myth of the Bed of Procrustes illustrates the principle that we shouldn’t try to pressure everyone to fit into a single approach. No bed fits every traveler; we can hurt people when we try to force them to fit into our model. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin Get the podcast show notes by email every week here: http://gretchenrubin.com/#newsletter Order a copy of Gretchen’s new book OUTER ORDER, INNER CALM here: http://outerorderinnercalmbook.com Leave a voicemail message on: 774-277-9336 For information about advertisers and promo codes, go to happiercast.com/sponsors. Happier with Gretchen Rubin is part of ‘The Onward Project,’ a family of podcasts brought together by Gretchen Rubin—all about how to make your life better. Check out the other Onward Project podcasts—Do The Thing, Side Hustle School, Happier in Hollywood and Everything Happens with Kate Bowler. If you liked this episode, please subscribe, leave a review, and tell your friends! To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0

I'm Gretchen Rubin and this is a little happier.

0:03.0

As I've studied happiness and human nature, I've spent a lot of time thinking about how

0:07.8

we can make our lives happier, healthier, more productive and more creative.

0:12.8

And one thing I believe very strongly, and it becomes clear to me all the time, is that

0:18.3

to be happy we must build our lives on the foundation of our own nature, our own interests,

0:25.4

our own temperament.

0:27.4

There's no magic one size fits all solution.

0:30.5

We each must decide what's true for us.

0:34.2

Because I talk about this theme frequently and think about it all the time, there's

0:37.8

an old story from Greek mythology that I love to invoke, the story of the bed of pro crusties.

0:45.6

This story is often used to illustrate the danger of trying to pressure everyone to

0:49.2

fit into a single approach.

0:52.0

If you don't know it, here is my version of that ancient story.

0:57.6

Once upon a time there lived the owner of a small estate that was located on a busy road,

1:03.1

the sacred way between Athens and Ellucius.

1:06.9

This man was named Pro crusties, which means the stretcher, and he was cruel and vicious.

1:13.8

When travelers passed on the road, he invited them into his house, gave them a generous dinner,

1:18.9

and then asked them to spend the night in his special iron bed.

1:23.5

No visitor ever fit that bed exactly, so to make them fit, he'd stretch the bodies of

1:29.5

the visitors or amputate their limbs so they'd fit exactly.

1:34.4

Any other way, his guests would die.

1:38.3

Eventually he was killed by the hero, Thesius, who fit pro crusties to his own bed.

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