← The Daily Stoic
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Foreign. Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast where each day we bring you a Stoic inspired meditation designed to help you find strength and insight and wisdom into everyday life. Each one of these episodes is Based on the 2000 year old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. Help you learn from them, to follow in their example, and to start your day off with a little dose of courage and discipline and justice and wisdom. For more, visit Dailystoic.com. Are you having trouble with these changes? It's a lot Culture has changed, technology has changed, work has changed, politics have changed, the environment has changed. And we're having trouble dealing with some of these changes. Living with these changes that we didn't ask for. You know, maybe they could have been prevented. But what we forget when we complain about change is that it's always been this way. In fact, nothing has really changed at all. We can imagine Marcus Aurelius reminding us because change is a constant from his time to ours. Indeed, can you think of any time in history where culture was not changing? When technology wasn't changing things? When the economy wasn't shifting, when politicians weren't coming and going from office, when policies weren't falling in and out of favor, when the world around us wasn't changing, whether it was from storms or man made causes. In fact, you wouldn't be here right now if not for those changes. As Marcus Aurelius points out in Meditations, we are here as a result of the ceaseless, merciless, but also sometimes wonderful river of change that flows through the world. And we are here because whether people liked all those changes or not, they figured out how to endure and survive and even thrive within it. We are here because someone protected us and took care of us during the scary changes that surrounded our childhood and our vulnerable years. And now we must figure out how to do the same. How to endure and survive and thrive. How to accept and accommodate. How to protect and stay good. How to stay sane. How to stay focused and flexible. How to change with all these changes. Thanks to Toyota Trucks for sponsoring this episode. When I bought my ranch in 2015 out here in Bastow County, I drove my car about halfway down the dirt road that we live on.
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Thought this isn't going to work.
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Stopped, parked it, walked the rest of the way home, borrowed my wife's car, drove into Austin and bought a truck. What I bought was a Toyota Tacoma. And this truck wasn't just transportation. It was getting me to and from my house. It unlocked a whole different style of living for us, not just on the ranch, but in our little Texas towns, there were places I could go now that I couldn't go before, especially out here in the piney forests, through the fields and on the unpaved roads like the one that I lived in. We got to go deep into the Hill Country's wild beauty. We've driven all the way out to East Texas. We've driven it across the country. And by we, I mean not just my wife, but both my kids, who I drove home from the hospital in that truck. Toyota trucks are built for those who understand that the best adventures happen when you're willing to veer off course, because you never know when you'll end up on a Toyota Adventure Detour. And of course, this is stoicism too, because every detour, every obstacle is an opportunity. But it's helpful if you can handle the difficulty inherent in that. If you've got the resilience and the right companion to make it wherever the road takes you, discover your uncharted territory. Learn more@toyota.com Trucks Adventure detours I'm recording this on a Monday and Monday is our grocery store day in our family. I usually pick my kids up from school and we go over to Whole Foods get all our groceries for the week. Although here very shortly we're going to go over there to get our Thanksgiving turkey. Turkey because they've got a bunch of great options. Turkeys start at $1.49 a pound if you have prime with organic birds at $2.99 a pound and they only carry no antibiotic ever, turkeys that will bring quality to your table at a great price. Whole Foods has great everyday prices on all your Thanksgiving essentials. Whether you celebrate with a massive family or just a few close friends, everything.
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They sell has high standards to help.
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You shop with confidence. Enjoy so many ways to save on your Thanksgiving spread at Whole Foods Market.
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Practice letting go we suffer when we lose things we love. We suffer most when we lose people we love. A natural and unavoidable part of life. The stoics say this suffering is increased by our belief that we possess the objects of our love, that they are, as we like to say, a part of us. This belief doesn't increase our love or care for them, but rather it is a form of clinging to that ignores the simple fact that we don't control what will happen, not to our bodies, let alone to the ones we love. Epictetus taught a powerful exercise that every time you wish a dear child, family member or friend goodnight, remember that these people are like precious, breakable glass. And remember how dramatically things can change while you sleep. Marcus, too, struggled to practice this with his own family as he tucked them in at night. The point isn't to be morbid, but to create a sense of appreciation and a kind of humility. Don't take anyone, especially someone you love, for granted this week. When you experience the pangs of losing someone, don't treat it like a part of yourself, but as a breakable glass, so that when it falls, you will remember that and you won't be troubled. So, too, whenever you kiss your child, sibling or friend, don't layer on top of the experience all the things you might wish, but hold them back and stop them, just as those who ride behind triumphant generals remind them that they are mortal. In the same way, remind yourself that your precious one isn't one of your possessions, but something given for now, not forever. That's Epictetus, the Discourses. But the wise person can lose nothing. Such a person has everything stored up for themselves, leaving nothing to fortune. Their own goods are held firm, bound in virtue, which requires nothing from chance, and therefore can't be either increased or diminished. That's Seneca on the firmness of the wise. The reality is, nothing is here forever. Things can be taken from us. The things we love can go missing, can get hurt, can be lost. The possessions we cherish can break, be stolen, be damaged beyond repair. The Stoics wanted us to be prepared for this. Not callously, not. It's kind of detached. But if we think about this exercise of Marcus Aurelius and Epictetus, who are reminding themselves as they tuck their kids into bed, that this could be the last time they see them. Look, the point of that wasn't to make the pain of losing the children. And Marcus really did lose many children before adulthood, which is an incredible expression to even be able to say it's like more than five, probably less than seven kids, we're not totally sure, but had to bury not just one child, but more than one child. The fact that he did this exercise did not make that less painful. That's not what this is about at all. It's that he got every minute that he could with those children. When I think about tucking my children into bed and I do this, it reminds me not to rush through it. It reminds me not to prioritize getting back to Netflix or answering my email as somehow being more important than reading another story to my boy or just laying there listening to him sleep. It's to fully drink in and be present while we're here. So obviously I hope that no one loses anyone, but I can't guarantee that no one can prevent that fully from happening. That's just the reality of being a fragile human being. What we can do is not take those people for granted while they are here. What we can do is tell them what we feel about them while they're here. What we can do is be our best selves while they are here. And we can, when we do lose them or lose things, have to accept that this is a part of life. This is the bargain that we made at birth. Right? Nothing lasts forever, nothing is ours fully. And that these are all rentals and the bill comes due or they have to be returned at some point. I do recommend if you are struggling, if you have lost someone, the Stoic doesn't say stuff that grief down and pretend that it doesn't exists. It's process it, work through it. I would strongly recommend some of Seneca's essays, his consolations. He wrote one to his mother. He wrote one to the loss of a friend who lost her father. You can also just google Seneca Grief Daily Stoic and I think our sort of piece on it comes up. But I've returned to those essays over and over again. Plutarch has a beautiful little consolation to his wife after they lost a child. The ancient world was cruel, but you know, the modern world isn't that much kinder or less capricious. So be safe, be smart. You know, this isn't to say don't wear a mask and go around and be stupid. No, it's saying that do everything you can that's in your control. Just be aware that a good chunk of what happens is not in your control. And that's why we can't take anything for granted. It's why we can't rush through. It's why we can't waste time. Got to be there, be there for people, be there for yourself. Be smart. Practice letting go. Be prepared and love, love, love while you still can. Also, there is a great Philip Larkin poem about. I think it's called the Hedgehog, about loving and being kind while there's still time. So if I leave you with one more recommendation, it would be that and we will talk. Hey, it's Ryan. Thank you for listening to the Daily Stoic podcast. I just wanted to say we so appreciate it. We love serving you. It's amazing to us that over 30 million people have downloaded these episodes in the couple years we've been doing it. It's an honor. Please spread the word, tell people about it. And this isn't to sell anything. I just wanted to say thank you.
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My family owns a 2023 Toyota 4Runner, and honestly, it's my favorite vehicle that I've ever owned around town. It's smooth and reliable, but where it really shines is on our trips into the backcountry. We've taken it on backpacking adventures to Colorado and New Mexico, loaded up with gear and never had to think twice about whether it could handle the terrain. That's what Toyota Trucks are built for off road confidence, rugged durability, and the freedom to explore. Toyota has a long history with the outdoor community, and they're committed to helping more people get out there and experience what nature has to offer. From remote trails to scenic byways, Toyota Trucks empowers you to take the detour, roam freely, and discover places that still feel wild and untouched. And they're not just making great trucks. They're working to expand access to adventure so more people can connect with the outdoors and pass that passion on to the next generation. Discover your uncharted territory. Learn more@toyota.com trucks adventure detours that's toyota.com trucks adventure detours did you know you.
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