This Message Is Waiting For You

On April 24th 1924, the pioneer writer Laura Ingalls Wilder got a note that he mother, aged 84, had died. It was a sad day, particularly since it had been so many years since she had been able to see or spend time with the woman who had raised and loved her. Wilder would address this sadness with her typical grit and stoic demeanor in her now popular newspaper column a few days later. “Some of us have received such messages,” she wrote. “Those who have not, one day will.” It seems obvious but it is an obvious statement worth repeating because our mind does everything we can to avoid letting it sink in: Each and everyone of us that lives long enough to see it will be told that our parents have died. Like Seneca wrote, we see it happen to other people. We know that our folks, like all other humans, are mortal. Yet we refuse to learn the obvious lesson: That the same thing will happen to them and to us. Each of us holds the fantasy that we can escape this loss. The proof of this fantasy is the way we treat those relationships today. We ignore phone calls or sigh our way through family dinners. We hold onto to feuds or deprivations of our childhood. We put off until later coming to appreciate and understand the people who raised us--flawed people yes--but people who in the vast majority of cases, genuinely tried their best. To paraphrase Marcus: Your parents could leave life right now. Let that determine what you do and say and think. The message of your loss is coming--and if it has already come, then some other loss--and it may be on its way right now. So do what you can now, appreciate them now. Ask them the things you want to ask them now. Say the things you want to say now. Before it’s too late. 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.

• 0:30Ryan Holiday?

  This message is waiting for you. On April 24, 1924, the pioneer writer Laura Ingalls Wilder got a note that her mother, aged 84, had died. It was a sad day, particularly since it had been so many years since she had been able to see or spend time with the woman who had raised and loved her. Wilder would address this sadness with her typical grit and stoic demeanor in her now-popular newspaper column a few days later. "Some of us have received such messages," she wrote. "Those who have not, one day will." It seems obvious, but it is an obvious statement worth repeating because our mind does everything we can to avoid letting it sink in. Each and every one of us that lives long enough

• 1:13Ryan Holiday?

  to see it will be told that our parents have died. Like Seneca, we see it happen to other people. We know that our folks, like all other humans, are mortal, yet we refuse to learn the obvious lesson, that the same thing will happen to them and to us. Each of us holds the fantasy that we will escape this loss. The proof of this fantasy is the way we treat those relationships today. We ignore phone calls or sigh our way through family dinners. We hold on to feuds or deprivations of our childhood. We put off until later coming to appreciate and understand the people who raised us. Flawed people, yes, but people who, in the vast majority of cases, genuinely tried their best. To paraphrase Marcus, "Your parents could leave life right now.

• 1:58Ryan Holiday?

  Let that determine what you do and say and think." The message of your loss is coming, and if it has already come, then some other loss, and it may be on its way right now. So do what you can. Appreciate them now. Ask them the things you want to ask them now. Say the things you want to say now, before it's too late. And again, if you want a reminder of this idea, this memento mori concept, which is so important to Stoicism, check out our memento mori medallion at dailystoic.com/store.