No, It’s Good This Happened to You

"The divorce. The bankruptcy. The car accident. The night you’re having to spend at the airport. The business you poured your savings into that you now have to close because of the coronavirus pandemic. It’s not fun. It’s not fair. Why couldn’t it have happened to someone else? When Stuart Scott found out he had cancer, when he knew that he would almost certainly die, you can imagine he thought all those things. How could he not? Yet, it was with profound grace that he refused to let that attitude take hold."Ryan talks about the example that Stuart Scott set and how you can follow it, on today's Daily Stoic Podcast.***If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps with our visibility, and the more people listen to the podcast, the more we can invest into it and make it even better. Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: http://DailyStoic.com/signupFollow @DailyStoic:Twitter: https://twitter.com/dailystoicInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailystoic/Facebook: http://facebook.com/dailystoicYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/dailystoicSee 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.

• 0:29Ryan Holiday?

  No, it's good this happened to you. The divorce, the bankruptcy, the car accident, the night you're having to spend at the airport, it's not fun, it's not fair. Why couldn't it have happened to someone else? When Stuart Scott found out he had cancer, when he knew that he would almost certainly die, you can imagine he thought all those things. How could he not? Yet, it was with profound grace that he refused to let that attitude take hold. When a friend asked if he ever thought, "Why me?", he said, "I have two girls that I love. I have a wonderful job that I love getting up for every day. Why not me? I'm about due." When another friend said they wished they could take some of his cancer

• 1:13Ryan Holiday?

  and suffer it instead of him, he said, "I wouldn't let you do it. I got this." That's what a Stoic does. Cato didn't complain that the fight of the Roman Republic fell on him. Not once in Epictetus's lectures do we see him bemoan the first 30 years of his life, stolen as they were by slavery, nor do we see Marcus Aurelius, who had no desire to be emperor, who was beset by tragedy after tragedy in his life, try to shirk his burdens onto anyone else. On the contrary, "It's unfortunate that this has happened", he wrote, "No, it's fortunate that this has happened, and I've remained unharmed by it, not shattered by the present or frightened by the future." It could have happened to

• 1:56Ryan Holiday?

  anyone, but not everyone could have remained unharmed by it, which is exactly what we have to say, no matter how minor or major the difficulties that befall us. "Why not me? I'm about due. No, I won't let someone else take my place. I've got it." Thanks for listening to the Daily Stoic Podcast. If you could leave us a review in iTunes, it helps a great deal. And of course, if you know anyone who would benefit from these messages, please spread the word. Thanks.