Love Always

1981 was a tough year for tennis great Billie Jean King. That year, she sat down to write her memoir having endured serious betrayal on multiple fronts. One was emotional and financial: a woman she’d had an affair with attempted to extort her, creating a massive scandal. The other was physical and inevitable: Her body had begun to betray her mastery of the game. She was getting older, the other players were getting younger. She had to confront the fact that most of her winning was behind her. Yet, she would close her memoir with a pretty remarkable series of sentences that capture one of the most important (but most difficult) concepts in Stoicism: Amor Fati. But more important now, I must think in terms of very specific goals and realities. Of course, I can just say I want to win all three -- the singles, doubles, and mixed. Easy to say and easy to want, but so difficult to execute. How can I do it? More than anything else, I must love everything that is part and parcel of the total Wimbledon scene. I must love hitting that little white ball; love every strain of running and bending those tired knees; love every bead of sweat; love every cloud or every ray of sun in the sky; love every moment of tension, waiting in the locker room; love the lack of total rest every night, the hunger pains during the day, taking a bath in my favorite tub, buying lollies for the ball boys, looking at the ivy and the trees and the flower arrangements, driving through Roehampton on the way to the courts every morning, practicing on the outside court with your stomach in your throat before the match; love watching people queue, knowing some of them have waited twenty years to experience one day at the Wimbledon; love playing on the Fourth of July, talking with Mrs. Twyman, having a rubdown, hearing the women talk (or not talk), and feeling the tension in the air, running up to the tea room through the crowds; love feeling and absorbing the tradition of almost one hundred years. In essence, I have to possess enough passion and love to withstand all the odds. No matter how tough, no matter what kind of outside pressure, no matter how many bad breaks along the way, I must keep my sights on the final goal, to win, win, win -- and with more love and passion than the world has ever witnessed in any performance. A total, giving performance: give more when you think you have nothing left. Through the desire the inspiration will be present. Love, passion, attitude, ability, intensity -- the only way, a street with no curves or cul-de-sacs. I must let my inner self be out front and free. Love always. What’s particularly striking about this passage are King’s observations about the mundane difficulties of the life of a tennis player and the way she was able to capture and appreciate--much the way Marcus Aurelius could--the ordinary pieces of experience. The beads of sweat...the moments of tension...the treats for the ball boys...even the pain of playing -- these are the things we see in a different light when we choose Amor Fati. In Marcus’s time he wrote about stalks of grain bending low, about the flecks of foam on a boar’s mouth, ripe fruit, the chattering of the adoring (and not adoring) crowds, the yapping of small dogs. When we accept and embrace everything that is around us, we can truly begin to see it. We can see everything, big and small, good and bad, and find beauty in it--find something to love in it. We can find the intensity aSee 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.

• 0:30Ryan Holiday?

  Love Always 1981 was a tough year for tennis great Billie Jean King. That year, she sat down to write her memoirs, having endured serious betrayal on multiple fronts. One was emotional and financial. A woman she'd had an affair with attempted to extort her, creating a massive scandal. The other was physical and inevitable. Her body had begun to betray her mastery of the game. She was getting older, and the other players were getting younger. She had to confront the fact that most of her winning was behind her. Yet, she would close her memoir with a pretty remarkable series of sentences that capture one of the most important, but most difficult, concepts in Stoicism: amor fati. As she wrote, "But more important

• 1:13Ryan Holiday?

  now, I must think in terms of very specific goals and realities. Of course, I can just say I want to win all three: the singles, doubles, and mixed. Easy to say and easy to want, but difficult to execute. How can I do it? More than anything else, I must love everything that is part and parcel of the total Wimbledon scene. I must love hitting that little white ball, love every strain of running and bending those tired knees, love every bead of sweat, love every cloud or every ray of sun in the sky, love every moment of tension waiting in the locker room, love the lack of total rest every night, the hunger pains during the day, taking a bath in my favorite tub, buying lollies

• 1:56Ryan Holiday?

  for the ball boys, looking at the ivy and the trees and the flower arrangements, driving through Roehampton on the way to the courts every morning, practicing on the outside court with your stomach and your throat before the match, love watching people queue..." Knowing some of them have waited 20 years to experience one day at Wimbledon. Love playing on the 4th of July. Love talking with Miss Timon, having a rub down, hearing the women talk or not talk, and feeling the tension in the air, running up to the tea room through the crowds. Love feeling and absorbing the tradition of almost 100 years. In essence, I have to possess enough passion and love to withstand all the odds. No matter how tough, no matter what kind of outside pressure, no matter how many bad breaks along the way,

• 2:41Ryan Holiday?

  I must keep my sights on the final goal to win, win, win. And with more love and passion than the world has ever witnessed in any performance. A total giving performance. Give more when you think you have nothing left. Through the desire, the inspiration will be present. Love, passion, attitude, ability, intensity. The only way, a street with no curves or cul-de-sacs. I must let my inner self be out front and free. Love always. What's particularly striking about this passage are King's observations about the mundane difficulties of the life of a tennis player and the way she was able to capture and appreciate, much the way that Marcus Aurelius could, the ordinary pieces of experience.

• 3:25Ryan Holiday?

  The beads of sweat, the moments of tension, the treats for the ball boys, even the pain of playing. These are things we see in a different light when we choose a more fatty. In Marcus's time, he wrote about the stalks of grain bending low, about the flecks of foam on a boar's mouth, ripe fruit, the chattering of the adoring and not adoring crowds, the yapping of small dogs. When we accept and embrace everything that is around us, we can truly begin to see it. We can see everything, big and small, good and bad, and find beauty in it. Find something we love in it. We can find the intensity and inspiration needed to push past and through it.

• 4:08Ryan Holiday?

  As Billie Jean King said, "This approach is something that is easy to say and easy to want, but so difficult to execute." Still, we can start this this morning. We can start right now. If you want a vivid, tangible reminder of the ideas of Omorfati, you can check out the Daily Stoic store where we have an Omorfati medallion that has the image of the fire that Marcus Aurelius was talking about, the fire that as you throw things on it, it absorbs them and becomes greater for it. We also have an Omorfati pendant necklace, and you can check both of those out. Just go to dailystoic.com/AF.