Every Day is a Bonus

Here’s a way to feel good every single day, no matter what happens. A way to appreciate even a day stuck in the airport or putting out fires. It’s an exercise from Seneca. He said that a person who wraps up each day as if it was the end of their life, who meditates on their mortality in the evening, has a super power when they wake up. “When a man has said, ‘I have lived!’,” Seneca wrote, then “every morning he arises is a bonus.” And you know how it feels when you’re playing with house money or when your vacation is extended. In a word? Better. You feel lighter. Nicer. You appreciate everything. You are present. All the trivial concerns and short term anxieties go away—because for a second, you realize how little they matter. Well, that’s how you ought to live. Go to bed, having lived a full day, appreciating that you may not get the privilege of waking up tomorrow. And if you do wake up—which we hope for all of you—it will be impossible not to see every second of the next twenty four hours as a bonus. Because they are. 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?

  Every day is a bonus. Here's a good way to feel good every single day, no matter what happens. A way to appreciate a day stuck in the airport or putting out fires. It's an exercise from Seneca. He said that "a person who wraps up each day as if it was the end of their life, who meditates on their mortality in the evening, has a superpower when they wake up." "When a man has said, 'I have lived,'" Seneca wrote, "then every morning he arises is a bonus." And you know how it feels when you're playing with house money or when your vacation is extended? In a word, better. You feel lighter, nicer, you appreciate everything, you are

• 1:08Ryan Holiday?

  present. All the trivial concerns and short-term anxieties go away, because for a second, you realize how little they matter. Well, that's how you ought to live. Going to bed, having lived a full day, appreciating that you may not get the privilege of waking up tomorrow. And if you do wake up, which we hope for all of you, it will be impossible not to see every second of the next 24 hours as a bonus, because they are. I have really exciting news. Daily Stoic now makes our Memento Mori design in a signet ring. It's awesome. I wear it on my right ring finger. I just absolutely love it. The

• 1:50Ryan Holiday?

  signet ring is a piece of jewelry that dates back something like 6,000 years. It was a practical component of Roman life. We can imagine Marcus Aurelius, Seneca, Cato, Cicero, and Epictetus all wearing signet rings. There was even a later Christian emperor who wore a signet ring with Marcus Aurelius's face on it. This signet ring comes in gold or silver. And it's got the skull on it, the flower and the hourglass. It says, "Memento Mori," which means "Remember Death." And on the inside, it has that famous quote from Marcus Aurelius, "You could leave life right now." And then it comes to us to remember that we must let this affect

• 2:33Ryan Holiday?

  and influence everything we do and say and think. I hope you'll check out the ring. It's in the Daily Stoic store. It's my favorite piece of jewelry now, besides my wedding ring. And I think you'll really like it. We worked very hard on it. Gonna love it. Check it out. DailyStoicStore.com.