What Do You Have To Show For It? | Our Sphere Of Impulses

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2:26Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast. On Friday, we do double duty, not just reading our daily meditation, but also reading a passage from the Daily Stoic, my book, 366 Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living, which I wrote with my wonderful collaborator, translator, and literary agent, Stephen Hanselman. So today, we'll give you a quick meditation from the Stoics with some analysis from me, and then we'll send you out into the world to turn these words into works.

3:07What do you have to show for it? It's been a year and then a year again and then a year again and another again, as unbelievable as that is to say. Time has alternately dragged and flown by. So much has happened, fortunate and unfortunate. On March 14th, 2020, now four years ago, we sent out an email here at Daily Stoic about the rising threat of COVID-19 and its connection to that timeless stoic dictum that we don't control what's happening, but we control how we respond. We asked one year later, and now we're asking again, how did you do? 48 months, countless obstacles, countless difficulties, countless dilemmas and stresses, but also a nearly infinite set of opportunities to practice this philosophy, to focus on what you can control, to try to make the most of the situation we all found ourselves in.

3:58Maybe you picked up running or maybe you just doom scrolled or got caught in conspiracy theories. Maybe you learned how to cook or maybe you put on 30 pounds from all those delivery meals. Maybe you moved to a different city or maybe you barely got off the couch. Maybe you had a slow period, got serious, picked up some good habits and then relapsed. Maybe you waited for things to go back to normal and then went back to the normal ways you used to waste time or medicate yourself. A core practice of Stoicism is journaling. And what is journaling but the process of contemplation and self-reflection?

4:30It's putting you and your actions up for review. Take a minute to do that today, or more than a minute, and don't lie to yourself. Look at your successes and be proud of them, that your standing is no small feat. Be grateful for that. Sadly, far too many of our fellow humans didn't make it. On March 14th, 2020, just 65 Americans had died of COVID-19. By March 2021, over 500 ,000 people had perished. Here in 2024, close to 1.2 million are dead and gone. Almost 7 million around the world have lost their lives. Others lost jobs or opportunities or experiences they can never get back. We were all affected.

5:12But take a second to look at where you were lucky, what you have to be grateful for, what skillful maneuvering and resiliency and random luck allowed you to endure and adapt. Seneca talked about how he pitied the person who never went through anything, the person who has never been knocked down or bloodied in the ring. Certainly that's not true for you or any of us anymore. We've been through it. Well, how are we stronger, smarter, and wiser for it? What perspective do we take from it? What are we more confident of? what changes do we still need to make? Now, let us learn from these successes and failures, vices and virtues, so that next time, and there is always a next time, we can be better, better citizens, better people, better Stoics.

5:55It's been a hell of a couple years. If we don't find demeaning from this suffering, if we don't improve because of it, individually and collectively, then we have added harm on top of the misfortune. And that is inexcusable. Hope everyone's doing well. It's just, I feel like time is zipped by and also taken in eternity. And I just wanted to deliver today's message. I hope all of you are well. Stay safe, stay smart, stay decent.

6:30Our sphere of impulses. This is the April 19th entry in the Daily Stoic. Our quote today is Marcus Aurelius coming from Meditations 1137. And it's a quote of a quote. Epictetus says we must discover the missing art of ascent and pay special attention to the sphere of our impulses, that they are subject to reservation to the common good, and that they are in proportion to actual worth. here we have an emperor the most powerful man in the world quoting in his diary the wisdom of a former slave and from what we know marcus may have had direct notes from epictetus's lecture via one of his former students that student being his philosophy teacher rusticus that wisdom was ultimately about surrender and serving the common good about the limits of our power and the importance of checking our impulses, something every person in power and authority needs to hear.

7:36Power and powerlessness seem so rarely to enter the same orbit, but when they do, it can change the world. Think about President Abraham Lincoln meeting with, corresponding with, and learning from Frederick Douglass, another slave of considerable wisdom and insight. In any case, all those men live by the principles expressed here, that in our own lives, whether we're experiencing great power and powerlessness. It's critical to leave room for what may happen and keep the common good and the actual worth of things front and center. And above all, be willing to learn from anyone and everyone, regardless of their station in life.

8:13And hang on one second, actually. I want to get you a different translation of Marcus because it's got one of my favorite phrases in it. One sec. Let's look at the Gregory Hayes translation of Marcus 1137, because it's an interesting one. We need to master the art of acquiescence. We need to pay attention to our impulses, making sure they don't go unmoderated, that they benefit others, that they're worthy of us. We need to steer clear of desire in any form and not try to avoid what's beyond our control. So first off, I think there's a little illustration there of just the latitude and subjectivity of all translations.

8:59And I just love the idea of also, again, of Marcus just quoting from memory, basically, Epictetus, and just sort of throwing it in there, just writing to himself, oh yeah, remember what he said. In the same way that we're doing this right now, remember what Marcus said. He just had this familiarity with it, and it was part of who he was. And I love, of course, the polarity, the contrast of the most powerful man in the world quoting a person who had next to no power. But I think Gregory Hayes does a fantastic job there. No offense to the wonderful translator, Steve Hanselman, who did the Daily Stoic with me, but the art of acquiescence.

9:39What a great phrase. What a great idea that we should all practice, right? Stokes talk a lot about this idea of ascent, A-S-S-E-N-T, not ascent like ascending up a mountain, but ascent. Accepting, tolerating, putting a stamp of approval on, welcoming in, you know, the idea that that's what he's calling the art of acquiescence. So what are the things that are outside of our control? What is simply a fact of life, a fact of our situation? How do we accept it and the artistry required therein. And I'm glad that Epictetus and I mentioned Frederick Douglass in this section. It's important that we're talking about that kind of ascent in relation to two people that no one would describe as passive, as weak, as resigned, as the Kanye West bullshit about how slavery was a choice and whatever.

10:41These men were in slavery against their will and eventually made their way out of it. But while they were in it, when it was not in their control, they found what they could do inside of it. They instinctively gravitated towards what parts of it were in their control. In Epictetus' case, it's like, what's going on in my mind? In The Girl Who Would Be Free, we call this the empire between our ears. Epictetus seizes control of that. He tries to do good within it. Of course, Frederick Douglass does the same. If you haven't read Frederick Douglass' memoir, it's just an absolutely incredible, life-changing, amazing book that I can't recommend enough.

11:23And I imagine if Epictetus had lived later, he might have written a memoir of equal power and weight. And so, you know, we can only, we don't have much between Epictetus and Hadrian, Epictetus and Marcus Aurelius, but we do have Lincoln and Douglas and just two amazing men and their interactions. There's a story about Frederick Douglas showing up at the White House at a party that Lincoln was throwing and he sees him from across the room. Ah, he's here, right? Lincoln understood the power, the celebrity, the influence, the character, the force of will that was in Frederick Douglass. And he welcomes him.

12:04And he learned from him, even despite his own racial prejudices, despite the fact that Douglass, although supportive broadly of what Lincoln was doing, disagreed with him plenty. And so I just love that exchange. And I'll sum it up again, right? Whether we're experiencing great power or powerlessness, it's critical to leave room for what may happen and keep the common good and actual worth of things front and center. Above all, be willing to learn from anyone and everyone, regardless of their station in life. That was true 2 ,000 years ago in ancient Rome. That's why Hadrian shows up and listens to Epictetus.

12:43That's why Marx Reus is quoting Epictetus in meditations. It's true in the mid-1860s where Lincoln is learning from Frederick Douglass. And it's true now, us learning from Epictetus and Frederick Douglass. But also anyone and everyone we meet, we're not too good, too big, too important to learn from anyone. And that's today's message. Talk to you all soon.

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