# Discussion of Stoicism in Daily Life - Applying Marcus Aurelius' Teachings Today

An episode of [The Meditations of Marcus Aurelius](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1597045207), 9 Dec 2024, 11 min.

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## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: All right, so you want to explore how stoicism can
[0:03] Speaker 1: be like surprisingly useful for us even today.
[0:06] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[0:07] Speaker 1: Absolutely, So we're doing a deep dive right into this
[0:11] Speaker 1: stoicism in daily life, applying Marcus Relis's teachings today the
[0:15] Speaker 1: excerpts you provided, and it's really not just like an
[0:19] Speaker 1: academic overview. We're really trying to extract some tools to
[0:24] Speaker 1: help you navigate your world, which is exactly what you
[0:26] Speaker 1: ask for.
[0:27] Speaker 2: Yeah, And I think you know what often surprises people
[0:30] Speaker 2: is how applicable stoicism is to you know, the challenges
[0:35] Speaker 2: that we face today, even though you know it came
[0:37] Speaker 2: about centuries ago.
[0:38] Speaker 1: Right, It's not just like some dusty old philosophy. Is
[0:41] Speaker 1: it's got real world application exactly. And one of the
[0:44] Speaker 1: biggest ones that stoicism in daily life really drives home, okay,
[0:50] Speaker 1: is this whole idea of like focusing on what you
[0:52] Speaker 1: can control. There's this great anecdote actually in the book
[0:56] Speaker 1: really about this stoic who gets caught in a rainstorm, right,
[1:01] Speaker 1: and everyone else is like freaking out, Yeah, and the
[1:04] Speaker 1: Stow's just kind of like, yeah, I can't control the weather. Yeah,
[1:09] Speaker 1: so why even waste the energy?
[1:10] Speaker 2: Right, It's a great example I think of how the
[1:12] Speaker 2: Stoics viewed things. They really understood that so much of
[1:16] Speaker 2: our stress comes from trying to control things that we
[1:19] Speaker 2: can't control, right, you know, they can't control the weather,
[1:22] Speaker 2: they can't control you know, what other people think, or
[1:25] Speaker 2: all these external circumstances, but they can influence their own thoughts,
[1:30] Speaker 2: their actions, their reactions.
[1:32] Speaker 1: So it's like instead of like, you know, being stuck
[1:35] Speaker 1: in traffic and like spiraling, right exactly, which I think
[1:38] Speaker 1: we've all been there. Oh yeah, for sure, the Stoic
[1:40] Speaker 1: might use that time to practice.
[1:42] Speaker 2: Mindfulness, oh absolutely.
[1:45] Speaker 1: Which brings us to our next point.
[1:47] Speaker 2: Yeah, and mindfulness, I think as stoicism in daily life,
[1:53] Speaker 2: beautifully illustrates is more than just a trendy buzzword. It's
[1:57] Speaker 2: about being present in each moment, no matter how small.
[2:02] Speaker 2: You know, it's really about and in fact, the book
[2:05] Speaker 2: even has like a whole section on how to practice mindfulness.
[2:09] Speaker 1: Wait, there's specific techniques in there. Yes, yeah, I admit,
[2:13] Speaker 1: Like when I think mindfulness, I just think of, like, yeah,
[2:16] Speaker 1: people sitting on meditation cushions.
[2:18] Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, there's certainly nothing wrong with meditation, right, But
[2:22] Speaker 2: you know, the Stoics believed that mindfulness could be cultivated anywhere, anytime.
[2:26] Speaker 1: Oh interesting.
[2:28] Speaker 2: One technique that the book men sense is called the
[2:30] Speaker 2: stoic pause, and essentially it involves taking a few moments
[2:34] Speaker 2: throughout the day to simply observe your thoughts and surroundings
[2:37] Speaker 2: without judgment.
[2:39] Speaker 1: So instead of me like rushing through my morning commute, yeah,
[2:42] Speaker 1: I can try to like be present with it.
[2:45] Speaker 2: Exactly.
[2:46] Speaker 1: Interesting. So how does that tie back to like controlling
[2:50] Speaker 1: what we can?
[2:51] Speaker 2: Well, by practicing mindfulness, we become more aware of our
[2:54] Speaker 2: thoughts and emotions, right, and this awareness gives us the
[2:57] Speaker 2: space to choose how we respond to challenges, rather than
[3:00] Speaker 2: just reacting on autopilot.
[3:02] Speaker 1: So it's like almost like hitting the pause button on
[3:04] Speaker 1: your reactions or something.
[3:05] Speaker 2: Yes, exactly, that pause, that moment of conscious choice is
[3:10] Speaker 2: incredibly powerful. It allows us to step back from the
[3:13] Speaker 2: chaos of our minds and make decisions that align with
[3:16] Speaker 2: our values rather than just being you know, controlled by
[3:19] Speaker 2: our emotions.
[3:20] Speaker 1: This is already making me think differently about how I
[3:22] Speaker 1: approach things. Right, But let's get back to for a
[3:25] Speaker 1: second this idea of challenges. Okay, because stoicism in daily
[3:30] Speaker 1: life has this like really intriguing take on obstacles. Yeah,
[3:35] Speaker 1: which seems very counterintuitive okay in our culture, I think.
[3:38] Speaker 1: Which is it frames them as opportunities for growth.
[3:41] Speaker 2: It's a very powerful reframe, isn't it. The book actually
[3:44] Speaker 2: quotes Marcus Aurelius as saying, uh, the impediment to action
[3:48] Speaker 2: advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.
[3:52] Speaker 1: Wow.
[3:52] Speaker 2: Basically, the Stoics believed that we don't grow from comfort
[3:56] Speaker 2: and ease, right, you know, we grow from facing and
[3:59] Speaker 2: overcoming challenges.
[4:00] Speaker 1: So it's less about like trying to create a problem
[4:03] Speaker 1: free life and more about like shifting our perspective on
[4:06] Speaker 1: the problems that inevitably come up. Yeah.
[4:08] Speaker 2: Precisely. Instead of viewing challenges as roadblocks, okay, the Stoics
[4:13] Speaker 2: saw them as opportunities to practice their principles and develop resilience.
[4:19] Speaker 2: You know. It's like that idea in weightlifting, Right, you
[4:22] Speaker 2: don't get stronger by lifting the lightest weight, right, you
[4:25] Speaker 2: get stronger by challenging yourself with progressively heavier ones.
[4:29] Speaker 1: Oh that's a great analogy. Yeah. Stoicism in Daily Life
[4:33] Speaker 1: also talks about how self discipline plays a role in
[4:37] Speaker 1: all this, and he uses this term temperance, right, which
[4:40] Speaker 1: sounds a little like old fashioned. Yeah yeah, but I
[4:44] Speaker 1: feel like it's super relevant today.
[4:46] Speaker 2: Absolutely. I think we can all relate to that feeling
[4:49] Speaker 2: of being pulled in a million directions. Oh yeah, you know,
[4:51] Speaker 2: bombarded with choices, temptations, social media streaming services.
[4:57] Speaker 1: You know, that extra lata, that extra lata.
[4:59] Speaker 2: Exactly, it's so easy to get overwhelmed and kind of
[5:02] Speaker 2: lose sight of what's truly important.
[5:05] Speaker 1: It's like our will power is constantly being tested. Yeah yeah, yeah,
[5:09] Speaker 1: So how does stoicism help us like navigate that.
[5:13] Speaker 2: Well, one of the things that stoicism in Daily Life
[5:16] Speaker 2: highlights is this idea of starting small. Okay, so instead
[5:20] Speaker 2: of trying to overhaul your entire life overnight, now, the
[5:23] Speaker 2: Stoics believed in focusing on one small area where you
[5:29] Speaker 2: want more control.
[5:30] Speaker 1: So instead of me saying I'm going to become a
[5:32] Speaker 1: productivity machine, it's more like, Okay, I'm going to limit
[5:36] Speaker 1: my social media scrolling to thirty minutes a day.
[5:39] Speaker 2: Exactly. By setting like a small achievable goal, you build
[5:44] Speaker 2: momentum and you cultivate that self discipline muscle, and as
[5:49] Speaker 2: you experience the benefits of that small win it becomes
[5:52] Speaker 2: easier to kind of apply their same principles to other
[5:56] Speaker 2: areas of your life.
[5:57] Speaker 1: If they create this like positive feedback loop, one small step.
[6:00] Speaker 2: At a time, precisely, and as you become more aware
[6:03] Speaker 2: of your choices, your impulses, you know, you start to
[6:06] Speaker 2: make decisions that are aligned with your values rather than
[6:09] Speaker 2: just being controlled by these you know, external factors or
[6:12] Speaker 2: fleeting desires.
[6:15] Speaker 1: So we've talked about focusing on what we can control, mindfulness,
[6:19] Speaker 1: reframing challenges, self discipline. Is there anything else that Stoicism
[6:26] Speaker 1: in daily life kind of highlights as being crucial for
[6:31] Speaker 1: navigating the ups and downs of life.
[6:33] Speaker 2: Yeah, there's one more key Stoic principle that I think
[6:36] Speaker 2: is really particularly relevant, and that is really accepting change
[6:41] Speaker 2: and impermanence. And in the book Marcus Aurelius uses this
[6:45] Speaker 2: metaphor of a river to illustrate this concept.
[6:49] Speaker 1: What do you mean by that?
[6:50] Speaker 2: Well, just like a river is constantly flowing and changing, right,
[6:53] Speaker 2: our lives are also in a constant state of flux. Ok.
[6:56] Speaker 2: We experience seasons, tides, natural cycle of growth and decay. Right,
[7:01] Speaker 2: And the Stoics believed that by embracing this natural flow
[7:05] Speaker 2: of change, we could find a sense of peace amidst
[7:09] Speaker 2: all the uncertainty of life.
[7:10] Speaker 1: That makes sense. It's still hard though, right, like when
[7:13] Speaker 1: you're going through a major life change, or like you're
[7:16] Speaker 1: really clinging to how things used to be. How did
[7:19] Speaker 1: the Stoics deal with that? So it's more than just
[7:22] Speaker 1: like acknowledging that change happens, but like actually embracing it exactly.
[7:28] Speaker 2: The excerpt that you shared from Stoicism in Daily Life
[7:30] Speaker 2: really emphasizes this idea that, you know, clinging to the
[7:34] Speaker 2: past or fearing the future only creates more suffering, you know. Instead,
[7:38] Speaker 2: the Stoics really encouraged focusing on the present moment, right, Okay,
[7:42] Speaker 2: the only place where we truly have agency.
[7:45] Speaker 1: It's like that saying worrying is like paying interest on
[7:48] Speaker 1: a debt you may never owe exactly.
[7:50] Speaker 2: And this really ties back to our earlier point about control. Okay,
[7:54] Speaker 2: we can't control whether or not change is going to happen,
[7:57] Speaker 2: but we can control how we respond to it.
[8:00] Speaker 1: That reminds me.
[8:00] Speaker 2: Yeah.
[8:01] Speaker 1: Stoicism in Daily Life also talks about the importance of
[8:04] Speaker 1: gratitude absence, which seems like a really powerful tool right
[8:08] Speaker 1: for navigating that change and uncertainty.
[8:10] Speaker 2: Yeah. Absolutely. The book actually even quotes Marcus Relius expressing
[8:16] Speaker 2: gratitude for the simple gift of life itself. Wow, you
[8:19] Speaker 2: know he saw it as a privilege, not right, which
[8:22] Speaker 2: it is, right.
[8:23] Speaker 1: It's just easy to forget that, I think sometimes it
[8:25] Speaker 1: is in the hustle and bustle.
[8:26] Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah, it is. And that's why the Stoics consider
[8:29] Speaker 2: gratitude to be such an important daily practice.
[8:32] Speaker 1: Okay.
[8:32] Speaker 2: By actively focusing on what we appreciate, you know, we
[8:36] Speaker 2: shift our attention away from what's lacking or it's changing,
[8:40] Speaker 2: and we cultivate a sense of contentment in the present moment.
[8:43] Speaker 1: So it's like an antidote to that feeling of like
[8:46] Speaker 1: always wanting more, yes, or being afraid.
[8:49] Speaker 2: Of loss exactly. And you know this leads us beautifully
[8:53] Speaker 2: to I think the final key takeaway from Stoicism in
[8:57] Speaker 2: daily life, okay, which is this importance of living with purpose.
[9:01] Speaker 1: Oh yeah, there's that great quote to Marcus Aurelius, right,
[9:04] Speaker 1: just that you do the right thing, the rest doesn't
[9:06] Speaker 1: matter exactly.
[9:07] Speaker 2: The Stoics really believed that virtue, you know, living in
[9:11] Speaker 2: accordance with your values was the ultimate path to fulfillment. Okay,
[9:17] Speaker 2: not wealth, not fame, not external validation.
[9:22] Speaker 1: So it's like, figure out what matters to you, yes,
[9:25] Speaker 1: and build your life around that.
[9:26] Speaker 2: Yes. And that's a really really powerful message, I think,
[9:31] Speaker 2: especially in today's world where you know, we're constantly bombarded
[9:35] Speaker 2: with all these external measures of success.
[9:37] Speaker 1: So after like diving deep into these excerpts from Stoicism
[9:42] Speaker 1: and Daily Life, yeah, I have to say this ancient
[9:46] Speaker 1: philosophy feels surprisingly relevant.
[9:50] Speaker 2: It really does, I agree to modern life. They really
[9:52] Speaker 2: offer us a framework I think for navigating the inevitable
[9:56] Speaker 2: ups and downs right with resilience, with purpose and e
[10:00] Speaker 2: with a sense of peace.
[10:01] Speaker 1: And what I love is you don't have to become
[10:04] Speaker 1: like a Stoicism scholar to benefit from the teachings. No,
[10:08] Speaker 1: it's like even just incorporating like one or two of
[10:10] Speaker 1: these principles absolutely, like focusing on what you can control,
[10:13] Speaker 1: practicing gratitude can make a difference.
[10:16] Speaker 2: It's about taking these timeless tools and finding, you know,
[10:19] Speaker 2: what resonates for you, what you can apply to your
[10:22] Speaker 2: own you know, unique.
[10:23] Speaker 1: Journey will said, and to everyone listening, we encourage you
[10:28] Speaker 1: to revisit those excerpts from Stoicism in Daily Life. Yeah,
[10:32] Speaker 1: take some time to reflect on them. See how you
[10:34] Speaker 1: can integrate these principles into your life, right absolutely, And
[10:40] Speaker 1: remember this is just the tip of the iceberg.
[10:42] Speaker 2: It is.
[10:42] Speaker 1: There's a whole world of stoic wisdom out there, there is, yeah,
[10:45] Speaker 1: waiting to be explored, explore away. All right, that's it
[10:49] Speaker 1: for today's deep dive. We'll see you all next time.

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