Little Happier: An Episode from the Life of Dr. Johnson Reminds Me to Do a Better Job of Staying Calm.

Happier with Gretchen Rubin

Gretchen Rubin / The Onward Project

Education, Health & Fitness, Self-improvement

4.7 • 13K Ratings

🗓️ 30 March 2020

⏱️ 3 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

NOTE: This episode was recorded before the COVID-19 situation took hold. Given the rapidly changing situation, it may be jarring to hear me ignore it—and that’s why. I was deeply moved by composure shown by Dr. Johnson in such a terrifying moment. I get tremendously rattled when I can’t find my phone right away! This example reminds me of how I can face life with more equanimity. Get in touch: @gretchenrubin; @elizabethcraft; [email protected] Get in touch on Instagram: @GretchenRubin & @LizCraft 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, and Happier in Hollywood. 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	Welcome aboard this Air France podcast message. Air France and its crew invite you to discover
0:09.4	its business class cabin where you can enjoy a full flatbed. For even more comfort, an
0:16.0	ultra soft duvet and pillow are at your disposal. Air France wishes you a pleasant podcast.
0:23.8	Air France book your business class tickets now at afrance.co.uk
0:29.8	I'm Gretchen Rubin and this is a little happier. One of my favorite authors is Samuel Johnson,
0:36.4	also known as Dr. Johnson, the eccentric prolific 18th century writer and lexicographer. His
0:43.6	health was quite bad and in 1783, when Dr. Johnson was about 74 years old, he had a stroke
0:50.0	that for a time made him unable to speak. I read the story of what happened in an account called
0:56.1	the Life of Samuel Johnson written in 1787 by Sir John Hawkins. Ever since I read it, I can't
1:03.8	stop thinking about it. This account says everything about Dr. Johnson. His brilliance with language,
1:10.1	his abiding religious faith, his eccentricity. Here's the account from Sir John Hawkins. About
1:18.4	the middle of June 1783, his constitution sustained a severe shock that it had ever before felt.
1:25.2	This was a stroke of the palsy, so very sudden and severe, that it awakened him out of a sound
1:31.0	sleep and rendered him for a short time speechless. As it had not affected his intellectual powers,
1:37.6	he and that incumbent posture to which he was confined attempted to repeat, first in English,
1:43.5	then in Latin, and afterwards in Greek, the Lord's Prayer, but succeeded in only the last effort,
1:49.6	immediately after which, binding himself again bereft of the power of speech, he rang for his
1:55.2	servant and making signs for Pan-Ink and Paper, wrote and sent the following note to his friend and
2:01.1	next door neighbor, Mr. Allen the printer. Johnson writes,
2:05.8	Dear Sir, it has pleased Almighty God this morning to deprive me of the powers of speech, and as I do
2:13.1	not know, but that it may be his further good pleasure to deprive me soon of my senses,
2:18.0	I request you will on the receipt of this note come to me and act for me as the exigencies of
	...

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