How To Bounce Back

When you begin to type “Marcus Lattimore” into Google, the first suggestion is “injury”. On October 27th, 2012, on live television, running back at University of South Carolina Marcus Lattimore suffered a horrific on field knee injury that he would never fully recover from. Lattimore was one of those once in a lifetime talents, but in one play, the football career Lattimore had built his entire identity around all but disappearedSeneca often said that the growth of anything great is a long process, but its undoing can be rapid, even instant. For Lattimore, it was instant. Such a devastating injury could have sent him down a spiral of rage, anger, sadness, and grief. It could have been the last we heard of Marcus Lattimore. But it wasn’t. Instead, he went back to school to earn the degree he promised his mom he'd get. He started a foundation to help athletes who have trouble paying for treatment and rehabilitation for major injuries. And most recently, he returned to his alma mater as the director of player development, mentoring student-athletes for life after football. Lattimore hasn’t spiraled. He’s thrived. And his impact now quieter but far more powerful than it would have been in the NFL. In our interview with Marcus for DailyStoic.com, Marcus said he wouldn’t change what he went through:The more I detached from the situation and gained a higher perspective, the more I realized how much I had grown up and started looking at the positives. Without my knee exploding on television I would've never fully grasped the positive impact I had on people which influenced starting a non-profit. I would have never known who was really there for me. If you want to know your true friends go through adversity. I would have never started reading and I wouldn't have the self-awareness I have today which I consider my most prized possession. In every situation, that which seems to be the end of our path can actually be showing us the start of it. Think back today in your own life, we all have those tough setbacks that turned out to be a great breakthrough. The worst things can become some of the best things. Like Lattimore, it may just take some detachment and perspective to see this, it may be painful and it may come slowly, but it can be worth it. See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

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  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. How to bounce back. When you begin to type Marcus Lattimore into Google, the first suggestion is injury. On October 27, 2012, on live television, Marcus Lattimore suffered a horrific on-field knee injury that he would never fully recover from. Lattimore was one of those once-in-a-lifetime

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  talents, but in one play, the football career he had built his entire identity around all but disappeared. Seneca often said that "the growth of anything great is a long process, but that its undoing can be rapid, even instant." For Lattimore, it was instant. Such a devastating injury could have sent him down a spiral of rage, anger, sadness, and grief. Could have been the last we heard of him, but it wasn't. Instead, Marcus went back to school to earn the degree he promised his mother he'd get. He started a foundation to help athletes who have trouble paying for treatment and rehabilitation for major injuries. And most recently, he returned to his alma mater as the Director of Player

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  Development, mentoring student athletes for life after football. He hasn't spiraled, he's thrived. And his impact is now a little quieter, but far more powerful than it would have been in the NFL. In our interview with Marcus for dailystoic.com, Marcus said he wouldn't change what he went through. He said, "The more I detached from the situation and gained a higher perspective, the more I realized how much I had grown up and started looking at the positives. Without my knee exploding on television, I never would have fully grasped the positive impact I had on people, which influenced starting a nonprofit." I would have never known who was really there for me. If you want to know who your true friends are, go through adversity.

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  I would have never started reading and I wouldn't have had the self-awareness I have today, which I consider my most prized possession. In every situation, that which seems to be the end of our path can actually be showing us the start of it. Think back today in your own life. We have all had tough setbacks that have been revealed to be great breakthroughs. The worst thing that's ever happened to you can become one of the best. Like Marcus, it may just take some detachment and perspective to see it. And it may be painful and it may come slowly, but it can be worth it. Please check out the Daily Stoic Stoic where we sell products that we ourselves use that are designed to take these Stoic lessons to the next level.

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  Just go to dailystoic.com/store.