How To Think About Obstacles

We can think of hardship many ways: As failure. As unfairness. As the end of the conversation. Clearly, this was not meant to be, we can say. They don’t want me to succeed, so what’s the point of trying? Or, we can choose—we can train ourselves—to see it a better way: As grist for the mill. As a chance to learn about endurance, patience, resilience, struggle. As an opportunity to prove our mettle. As a way of learning about people or situations or actions or things. Marcus Aurelius believed in the latter approach. As he wrote: “Our inward power, when it obeys nature, reacts to events by accommodating itself to what it faces—to what is possible. It needs no specific material. It pursues its own aims as circumstances allow; it turns obstacles into fuel. As a fire overwhelms what would have quenched a lamp. What’s thrown on top of the conflagration is absorbed, consumed by it—and makes it burn still higher.”It’s not about accepting hardship then, or resigning ourselves to it. Rather, it’s a matter of agreeing to work with it. To decide to make the most of it. To see hardship as an opportunity, not an obstacle. In this way, we can turn what happens to us into fuel. We can be made better and brighter by everything that happens. P. S. The Obstacle is the Way by Ryan Holiday is $1.99 on Amazon right now for a very limited time! If you want to check it out, or give it as a gift, it’ll never be cheaper than that. You can also check out our brand new The Obstacle Is The Way pendant, as well as The Obstacle is the Way medallion which is inspired by the same insights from Marcus Aurelius and is awesome for carrying with you everywhere you go. 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

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• 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?

  How to Think About Obstacles We can think of hardships many ways: as failure, as unfairness, as the end of the conversation. "Clearly, this was not meant to be," we can say. "They don't want me to succeed, so what's the point of trying?" Or we can train ourselves to see it a better way: as grist for the mill, as a chance to learn about endurance, patience, resilience, and struggle, as an opportunity to prove our mettle, a way of learning about people or situations or actions or things. Marcus Aurelius believed in the latter approach. As he wrote, "Our inward power, when it obeys nature, reacts to events by accommodating

• 1:13Ryan Holiday?

  itself to what it faces, to what is possible. It needs no specific material. It pursues its own aims as circumstances allows. It turns obstacles into fuel. As a fire overwhelms what would have quenched a lamp, what's thrown on top of the conflagration is absorbed and consumed by it and makes it burn still higher." It's not about accepting hardship, then, or resigning ourselves to it. Rather, it's a matter of agreeing to work with the hardship, to decide to make the most of it, to see it as opportunity, not obstacle. In this way, we can turn what happens to us as fuel.

• 1:56Ryan Holiday?

  We can be made better and brighter by everything that happens. Hey, limited time note: The Obstacle is the Way. Today and the next few days is $1.99 as an ebook on Amazon right now. If you want to check it out or give it as a gift, it will never be cheaper than this. It's a super limited promo that Amazon is running. Get it before it runs out. I hope you check it out. You can also look at The Obstacle is the Way medallion, which is inspired by some of the same insights from Marcus Aurelius. I carry one with me every one we go. But definitely, if you haven't read The Obstacle is the Way, now's your chance. It's $1.99. Give it a look. Thanks.