Daily Stoic

Here’s a way to feel good every single day, no matter what happens. A way to appreciate even a day stuck in the airport or putting out fires. It’s an exercise from Seneca. A person who wraps up each day as if it were the end of their life, who meditates on their mortality in the evening, Seneca believed, has a super power when they wake up. “When a man has said, ‘I have lived!’” Seneca wrote, then “every morning he arises is a bonus.” This can be a hard concept to embrace, since fatigue descends on so many of us unwittingly, and day breaks before we are ready. But think back: to that one time you were playing with house money, if not literally then metaphorically. Or when your vacation got extended. Or that appointment you were dreading canceled at the last moment. Do you remember how you felt? Probably, in a word—better. You feel lighter. Nicer. You appreciate everything. You are present. All the trivial concerns and short term anxieties go away—because for a second, you realize how little they matter. Well, that’s how you ought to live. Go to bed, having lived a full day, appreciating that you may not get the privilege of waking up tomorrow. And if you do wake up—which we hope for all of you—it will be impossible not to see every second of the next 24 hours as a bonus. As a vacation extended. An appointment with death put off one more day. As playing with house money. Because they are.

"It is not death that a man should fear, but he should fear never beginning to live." — Marcus Aurelius

Stop daydreaming about who you could be. Instead, carefully define the person you want to be and start living as that person right now.

"I cannot escape death, but at least I can escape the fear of it." — Epictetus

"Don't procrastinate. Don't confuse. Don't wander. Don't be passive or aggressive. Don't be all about business." — Marcus Aurelius

The Stoics accepted that life could be cruel and random. They knew people were stupid and annoying. They did not deny that death was ever present. You might think the result of these beliefs was a dark and dour worldview. Certainly, many critics of the Stoics have registered that–or potential fans of the Stoics have turned away after a few passages of Marcus Aurelius’ Meditations or Epictetus’ writings. Regardless of how realistic they might have been in their assessment of the world, the Stoics were, on the whole, not despondent. They worked hard at their jobs. They created beautiful art. They went to the theater. They got married. They tried to make a positive difference in the lives of the people around them. You want to call Marcus Aurelius resigned and pessimistic? The guy buried six of his children…and continued to get out of bed each morning. That is a statement of profound hopefulness and meaning. As well as fortitude and character. Whatever it is, whatever you’re going through, whatever it’s forced you to understand about this thing called life–well, it is not at odds with the ability, with the need, to just keep going. To put one foot in front of the other. To do your best. To make a tiny contribution. The Stoics managed. So can you.

"Frightened of change? But what can exist without it?" — Marcus Aurelius

"Joy comes to us from those whom we love even when they are absent." — Seneca

"You can also commit injustice by doing nothing." — Marcus Aurelius

"If it's humanly possible, you can do it too." — Marcus Aurelius