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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.

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 DailyStoic.com.

Making a difference is up to you. Look, there's no way around it. Part of stoicism is about accepting that a lot of what happens in the world, outside of our control.

Some people have taken this to mean that the stoics were resigned, that they are willing to tolerate the status quo and despair of the idea of improving the world or society.

Of course, this is rather silly considering that Marcus Aurelius, Encaito, and Sennaka were all active in political life, and that the stoics directly inspired George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adams to found a new nation.

Still, it is true that part of stoicism is accepting what is outside of our control, but it's that last part that is the important part. The stoic accepts what is outside their influence or power to change.

When they can affect change, though, well, the stoic dives right in. Earlier this year, Blake Mekoski, the founder of Tom Shoes, and as it happens, a long-time student of the stoics, particularly Marcus Aurelius, got a call from his wife after yet another year.

She was a tragic shooting. As he describes it, my wife called me very emotional and was afraid of taking our son to school. She kept reciting all the recent shootings on the phone, and before we got off, she said, someone must do something about it.

She was not suggesting me, per se. I got off, and a higher power put a thought in my mind, and it was simply, if not me, than who? If not now, then when?

When I was in the middle of the war, Blake came to think and feel that given his success as an entrepreneur, his track record as a leader, and his platform as the owner of a large and well-known company, perhaps it was in his control to do something about the problem of gun violence in America.

Was he delusional to think that he could solve the problem completely all by himself? No. Did he think it would be easy or simple or happen all at once? No.

But he did think he had at least some power to make a difference, and so he got to work.

First, he and Tom's committed to giving $5 million to groups on the ground fighting to reduce gun violence, which happens to be the single largest corporate donation ever for that cause.

But he did not stop at simply giving money away. He also built a tool that made it possible for every single American who wanted to go to Tom's.com

and fill it a quick form that would send a free physical postcard to their congressional representative asking for just one thing, requiring universal background checks for anyone buying a gun, something that 90% of American support.

And then Blake went on an active, exhausting media tour to spread awareness of this tool, launching it on the tonight show and many other outlets.

In less than five days, more than a half a million citizens participated. Tens of thousands more are filling it out every hour.

Will universal background checks stop every school shooting and totally end gun violence? Of course not. Even if common sense gun reform legislation is passed, will it be entirely because of this campaign? No, obviously not.

But this campaign will help and it will make things better. It has the potential to make a little bit of difference and that's enough, especially if other people or rather we follow its lead.

When 90% of Americans are in favor of universal background checks Blake told us it is not a political issue anymore. It is a human issue.

We all want to be more safe. All I am trying to do is bring people together to have politicians listen to the people they are supposed to represent.

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