Why Be Angry About Something That’s Already Gone?

It’s another mess. It’s not your fault, but you’re dealing with it. It’s another rude person— representing a company you are paying money to—who doesn’t seem to get how this is supposed to work. It’s another example of disrespect, or bias, or plain discrimination. It’s precisely the kind of thing that pisses you off. So you’re angry. It shouldn’t be like this. It doesn’t need to be like this. When will it stop? The Stoics have an answer. It might not be the one you want to hear, but it’s an answer. The answer is that this will stop soon. It always does. Everything does. As Marcus Aurelius writes in Meditations:Keep in mind how fast things pass by and are gone — those that are now, and those to come. Existence flows past us like a river: the ‘what’ is in constant flux, the ‘why’ has a thousand variations. Nothing is stable, not even what’s right here. The infinity of past and future gapes before us — a chasm whose depths we cannot see. So it would take an idiot to feel self-importance or distress. Or any indignation, either. As if the things that irritate us lasted. This is one of the reasons the Stoics were big advocates of “the pause” (which we talk about in our Taming Your Temper course). Yes, this thing is angering you right now. But the truth is that it will be gone soon enough. And so will you for that matter! Life is short. Do you want to spend it being upset? Most problems resolve themselves. Most bad news is followed, eventually, by good news. Most frustrations lessen with time. Use that to your advantage. Don’t give them more substance and permanence than they deserve. Go with the flow. Don’t be angry. It’s pointless. 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.

• 0:29Ryan Holiday?

  Why be angry about something that's already gone? It's another mess. It's not your fault, but you're dealing with it. It's another rude person representing a company you're paying money to who doesn't seem to get how this is supposed to work. It's another example of disrespect, or bias, or plain discrimination. It's precisely the kind of thing that pisses you off. So you're angry. It shouldn't be like this. It doesn't need to be like this. When will it stop? Well, the Stoics have an answer. It might not be the one you want to hear, but it's an answer. The answer is that this will soon stop. It always does. Everything does. As Marcus Aurelius writes

• 1:10Ryan Holiday?

  in Meditations, "Keep in mind how fast things pass by and are gone. Those that are now and those to come." Existence flows past us like a river. The what is in constant flux. The why has a thousand variations. Nothing is stable, not even what's right here. The infinity of past and future gapes before us, a chasm whose depths we cannot see. So it would take an idiot to feel self-importance, or distress, or any indignation either, as if the things that irritate us lasted. This is one of the reasons the Stoics were big advocates of the pause, which we talk about in our Taming Your Temper course. Yes, this

• 1:52Ryan Holiday?

  thing is angering you right now, but the truth is that it will be gone soon enough, and so will you, for that matter. Life is short. Do you want to spend it being upset? Most problems resolve themselves. Most bad news is followed eventually by good news. Most frustrations lessen with time. Use that to your advantage. Don't give them more substance and permanence than they deserve. Go with the flow. Don't be angry. It's pointless.

• 2:20Ryan Holiday?

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