You Don’t Control When, You Do Control How

As we’ve discussed, one could look out at the world right now and see a lot of negative. Or you could grab the other handle, as Epictetus says, and see the positive. It’s an open question: Is this a great time to be alive or a terrible one? Are we blessed to have spent twenty years without any major wars, without any truly global crises, with sustained periods of economic prosperity and incredible technological advances? Or has it been twenty years with three major recessions, with the terror of terrorism, disruptive or disappointing tech, and now with a global pandemic? Here’s the Stoic’s answer: It doesn’t matter. Because you don’t control when you live. What history will think of this period compared to other periods is meaningless. The only thing that counts is that you’re alive right now. We don’t choose when we live, we choose how we live. That’s it. You didn’t ask for this moment. Maybe you’d prefer things to be different. Well...they aren’t. And you’re going to have to make do. Understand this and you will be wise. Adhere to it and you will be successful. How can we make the most of right now? That’s the question. How can we live well within—or in spite—of what’s happening? That’s our job. You think Marcus wanted to live through the plague or Epictetus in a time where slavery existed or Seneca during Nero’s rule? Nope. But they figured it out. They made it work. And so can you. 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.

• 0:28Ryan Holiday?

  You don't control when, you do control how. As we've discussed, one could look out at the world right now and see a lot of negative, or you could grab the other handle, as Epictetus says, and see the positive. It's an open question: is this a great time to be alive or a terrible one? Are we blessed to have spent nearly 20 years without any major wars, without any truly global crises, with sustained periods of economic prosperity and incredible technological advances? Or has it been 20 years with three major recessions, with the terror of terrorism, disruptive and disappointing technology, and now a global pandemic? Here's the Stoic answer: it doesn't matter. Because you don't control when you

• 1:12Ryan Holiday?

  live, what history will think of this period compared to other periods is meaningless. The only thing that counts is that you're alive right now. We don't choose when we live, we choose how we live. That's it. You didn't ask for this moment, maybe you'd prefer things to be different. Well, they aren't. And you're going to have to make do. Understand this, and you will be wise. Adhere to it, and you will be successful. How can we make the most of right now? That's the question. How can we live well within or in spite of what's happening? That's our job. You think Marcus wanted to live through the plague

• 1:51Ryan Holiday?

  or Epictetus in a time when slavery existed, or Seneca during Nero's rule? No. But they figured it out. They made it work. And so can you.

• 2:03Ryan Holiday?

  Hey there. If you're wondering how to get the most out of this time you have stuck at home, maybe you're working only part-time, or you're working from home, you've got a childcare situation, none of this is what we would choose. But the Stoics say we don't choose what happens, we choose how we respond. And so that's why we've been scrambling here at Daily Stoic to put together what we're calling the Daily Stoic Alive Time Challenge. It's 14 days of inspired Stoic wisdom that will help you get the most out of this moment, that will help you seize this moment, rise to the occasion. We're going to challenge you. It's not going to be easy, but I think you will emerge from it better, and that will be some small good that's come out of this experience. So you can check that out right now at dailystoic.com/alive time.