Your Obstacles Are Trying To Teach You Something

One way to go through life is to turn away from the things that are hard. You can close your eyes and ears to what is unpleasant. You can take the easy way, forgoing difficulty whenever possible. The other way is the Stoic way—it entails not only not avoiding hardship, but actively seeking it out. In the novel Memoirs of Hadrian, Marguerite Yourcenar has Hadrian write to young Marcus Aurelius about his philosophy for learning and benefiting from all of life’s adversity and unpleasantness. “Whenever an object repelled me,” he says, “I made it a subject of study, ingeniously compelling myself to extract from it a motive for enjoyment. If faced with something unforeseen or near cause for despair, like an ambush or a storm at sea, after all measures for the safety of others had been taken, I strove to welcome this hazard, to rejoice in whatever it brought me of the new and unexpected, and thus without shock the ambush or the tempest was incorporated into my plans, or my thoughts. Even in the throes of my worst disaster, I have seen a moment when sheer exhaustion reduced some part of the horror of the experience, and when I made the defeat a thing of my own in being willing to accept it.” Of course, this is fiction so Hadrian never said such a thing. But clearly somebody taught Marcus a lesson along those lines, because Meditations is filled with similar passages. Marcus writes about how a fire turns everything that is thrown into it into flame. He says that obstacles are actually fuel. “The impediment to action advances action,” he writes, “what stands in the way becomes the way.”It’s a beautiful way to approach the world—and ultimately, the only one suited for our unpredictable and stressful times. To avoid difficulty would mean complete retreat from life. It would mean hiding in ignorance. Worse, this would make you dreadfully vulnerable to crisis if it did ever find you. Instead, we must strive—as Hadrian said—to welcome hazard. We can rejoice in the unexpected and even turn failure into something by deciding to own it. We can learn from unpleasantness and even soften our aversions. This will not be easy. But that’s fitting, isn’t it? We are not naturally attracted to obstacles...which is precisely why we must work on finding out how to like them. This is the way. Great news: The Obstacle is the Way, just went on sale for $1.99 as an ebook in the US and Canada (and £3.32 in the UK). Get your copy of this #1 bestseller, read and absorbed by everyone from politicians and generals to head coaches and athletes, today. And that's not all: to help you keep the book's message close at hand, we're offering a 20% discount on our Obstacle is the Way coin and pendant at the Daily Stoic store (use code OBSTACLEDISCOUNT). See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info. 📢 Share | ⚙️ Manage Subscription

Speaker names marked ? are inferred from speaking time and the show’s known hosts — they are not voice-verified.

• 0:06Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to The Daily Stoic, where 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 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at DailyStoic.com. Your obstacles are trying to teach you something. One way to go through life is to turn away from the things that are hard. You can close your eyes and ears to what is unpleasant. You can take the easy way, foregoing difficulty whenever possible. The other way is the Stoic way, which entails not only not avoiding hardship, but actively seeking it out.

• 0:51Ryan Holiday?

  In the novel Memoirs of Hadrian, the author has Hadrian write to young Marcus Aurelius about his philosophy for learning and benefiting from all life's adversity and unpleasantness. "Whenever an object repelled me," the author has Hadrian say, "I made it a subject of study, ingeniously compelling myself to extract from it a motive for enjoyment. If faced with something unforeseen or near cause for despair, like an ambush or a storm at sea, after all measures for the safety of others had been taken, I strove to welcome this hazard, to rejoice in whatever it brought me of the new and unexpected, and thus, without

• 1:35Ryan Holiday?

  shock, the ambush or the tempest was incorporated into my plans or my thoughts. Even in the throes of my worst disaster, I have seen a moment when sheer exhaustion reduced some part of the horror of the experience, and when I made the defeat a thing of my own in being willing to accept it." Of course, this is fiction, so Hadrian never said such a thing, but clearly somebody at some time taught Marcus a lesson along those lines. Because Meditations is filled with similar passages, Marcus writes about how a fire- Turns everything that is thrown into it into flame. He says that obstacles are actually fuel. The impediment to action advances action, he writes.

• 2:20Ryan Holiday?

  What stands in the way becomes the way. It's a beautiful way to approach the world and ultimately the only one suited for our unpredictable and stressful times. To avoid difficulty would mean complete retreat from life. It would mean hiding in ignorance. Worse, this would actually make you dreadfully vulnerable to crisis if it ever did find you. Instead, we must strive, as Hadrian said, to welcome hazard. We can rejoice in the unexpected and even turn failure into something by deciding to own it. We can learn from unpleasantness and even soften our aversions. This will not be easy, but that's fitting, isn't it?

• 3:00Ryan Holiday?

  We are not naturally attracted to obstacles, which is precisely why we must work on finding out how to like them. This is the way. Hey, everyone. Thanks again for listening to today's Daily Stoic Podcast. My first book on Stoicism, The Obstacle is Way, is still on sale for $1.99 on Amazon, but the promo ends on March 29th, so you don't have much time left to pick up your copy. This is the first book I wrote about Stoicism. It hit number one on the Wall Street Journal Bestseller List as countless fans in politics and sports, the military, media, and more. Don't miss your chance to get it for $1.99 as an ebook in the US. Follow the link in the store bio. Thanks.