We Are All Tested In Different Ways

It was said that Socrates saw his difficult marriage as a sort of challenge that life threw at him—that the fact that his wife’s personality and interests were often at odds with his own was something he could be made better by for being patient with. Certainly, Marcus Aurelius was tested by his difficult son, and likely spent many sleepless nights worrying about what would become of this boy who just couldn’t quite get it together. So, too, are each of us tested by the difficult relationships that life throws our way. For some of us, that’s an absent father, for others, it’s a sister with a drug problem. We have co-workers who are drama queens, bosses who are assholes, and neighbors who are meddlesome. Each of these situations is a trial, one that challenges us and forces us to apply the lessons that we’ve learned in our reading and through our studies. Can you learn how to love someone who has trouble loving back? Can you learn how to forgive someone for their flaws? Can you develop the self-control necessary to not lose your temper when they provoke you? Can you put up appropriate boundaries? Can you say “No” when it’s appropriate and say, “Yes” when someone really needs you, even when it would be easier to focus on your own needs? Relationships test us, but they also teach us. They bring with them both obstacles and opportunities. What matters, then, is how we respond and who we become in the process. No one ever said that family or friendships would be easy—they just said the trouble would be worth it in the end. 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. We are all tested in different ways. It was said that Socrates saw his difficult marriage as a sort of challenge that life threw at him, that the fact that his wife's personality and interests were often at odds with his own was something he could be made better for by being patient with. Certainly Marcus Aurelius was tested by his difficult

• 0:50Ryan Holiday?

  son and likely spent many sleepless nights worrying about what would become of this boy who just couldn't quite get it together. So too are each of us tested by the difficult relationships that life throws our way. For some of us, that's an absent father; for others, it's a sister with a drug problem. We have coworkers who are drama queens, bosses who are assholes, and neighbors who are meddlesome. Each of these situations is a trial, one that challenges us and forces us to apply the lessons we've learned in our reading and through our studies. Can you learn how to love someone who has trouble loving you back? Can you learn how to forgive someone for their flaws? Can you develop the self-control

• 1:34Ryan Holiday?

  necessary not to lose your temper when they provoke you? Can you put up appropriate boundaries? Can you say no when it's appropriate and say yes when someone really needs you, even when it would be easier for you to focus on your own needs? Relationships test us, but they also teach us. They bring with them both obstacles and opportunities. What matters, then, is how we respond and who we become in the process. No one ever said that family or friendships would be easy; they just said that trouble would be worth it in the end. Please check out the Daily Stoic store, where we sell products that we ourselves use that are designed to take these Stoic lessons to the next level. Just go to dailystoic.com/store.