What Will This Cause? | Ask Daily Stoic

The Daily Stoic

Daily Stoic | Wondery

Education, Daily Stoic, Society & Culture, Stoic, Stoicism, Self-improvement, Business, Stoic Philosophy, Philosophy, Ryan Holiday

4.6 • 4.7K Ratings

🗓️ 9 February 2023

⏱️ 9 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

When horrible things happen to us, our instinct is always to ask why me? Why this? Why now? It’s understandable, but it’s also irrelevant and unhelpful, because those questions have no answer. At least no answer that you can do anything about or take any comfort from. Besides, life has a better question. One it is constantly asking us, one that Michael Lewis to his credit has fully embraced: what will this cause? Will it put us out of commission or give us a new mission? Will it cause good things or bad things?

And in today's Ask Daily Stoic, Ryan answers questions as part of a Stoicism virtual discussion. Topics include the best ways to teach Stoic wisdom to kids and why a formal education doesn't necessarily equate to practical intelligence.

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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
0:07.7	designed to help you in your everyday life.
0:10.4	Well on Thursdays we not only read the daily meditation but we answer some questions from
0:14.3	listeners and fellow stoics we're trying to apply this philosophy just as you are.
0:20.2	Some of these come from my talks, some of these come from Zoom sessions that we do with
0:25.6	Daily Stoic Life members or as part of the challenges.
0:29.8	Some of them are from interactions I have on the street when there happen to be someone
0:33.5	there recording.
0:34.5	But thank you for listening and we hope this is of use to you.
0:43.5	What will this cause?
0:46.0	In 2021 the author Michael Lewis experienced just about the worst thing that can happen
0:51.5	to a parent when his daughter was killed in a car accident.
0:55.8	Asked about the grief of losing a child Lewis said first that it was exhausting.
1:01.6	Every night I go to bed he said I'm thinking about Dixie Lewis and every morning I wake
1:06.5	up I'm thinking about Dixie Lewis.
1:09.9	Then he added I can't control that she died I can't do anything about that.
1:15.3	All I can control is what her death causes and I'm determined that it caused good things,
1:20.6	not bad things.
1:22.4	That's what I'm focused on is what does this cause like make sure it doesn't cause more
1:27.6	pain.
1:28.6	See if it causes something else.
1:32.5	The Stoics were not unfamiliar with this kind of horrendous grief.
	...

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