Nothing Is Unusual

Ryan explains why nothing should surprise a Stoic, on today's Daily Stoic Podcast. Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: https://DailyStoic.com/emailFollow us: Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, TikTok, and FacebookSee 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.

• 0:04Ryan Holiday?

  Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast where each day we bring you a passage of ancient wisdom designed to help you find strength, insight, and wisdom in everyday 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.

• 0:27Ryan Holiday?

  Nothing is unusual. You're going through something horrible. Your first business just went under. Your first book flopped. You moved for a job and then you got fired. You've been robbed. You're broke. You're heartbroken. And people are telling you that you'll get through this. It's easy for them to say, you think to yourself, but those people are right. On Marc Maron's podcast, Katie Siegel talked about a time in her life where, in a short span, she lost a stillborn daughter, got divorced, then went broke from the divorce. The silver lining in those horrible experiences, she said, is that the next time something horrible happens, you know you can get through it. And then Marc Maron, who himself has had a tragic year, adds, "What I've started to

• 1:12Ryan Holiday?

  realize is that none of it is unusual. It's something that humans go through, no matter what it is. There's nothing that's going to happen to you that's going to be like, that's never happened to a human before. There's something comforting about that," he says. And that goes from going broke, to getting sick, to death, or whatever. You're not alone, as we've talked about a little while back. Whatever you're going through, a human being has gone through. And that means you can do it too. That's exactly what Marcus Aurelius said also, remember? He said, "Recognize that if it's humanly possible, you can do it also. And whatever you're experiencing is human, has been for centuries."

• 1:56Ryan Holiday?

  And that's not to say that what you're going through isn't painful. It's not to say that going through it will be quick or easy, but it is to say that you will get through it. And there's something comforting in that.

• 2:11Ryan Holiday?

  Thanks so much for listening to the Daily Stoic Podcast. Again, if you don't know this, you can get these delivered to you via email every day. So check it out, DailyStoic.com/email.