The Daily Stoic - Have You Ever Had A Motionless Moment?

Episode Date: April 23, 2021

“We are so busy. We think we’re supposed to be. We think that’s how we get better. We think that moving is the only way to move forward.”Ryan discusses why you must strive for moments of stillness, on today’s Daily Stoic Podcast.***If you enjoyed this week’s podcast, we’d love for you to leave a review on Apple Podcasts. It helps with our visibility, and the more people listen to the podcast, the more we can invest into it and make it even better.Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: http://DailyStoic.com/signupFollow Daily Stoic:Twitter: https://twitter.com/dailystoicInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/dailystoic/Facebook: http://facebook.com/dailystoicYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/dailystoicTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@daily_stoic See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Hey, prime members, you can listen to the Daily Stood Podcast early and add free on Amazon Music. Download the app today. Hi, I'm David Brown, the host of Wundery's podcast business wars. And in our new season, Walmart must fight off target. The new discounter that's both savvy and fashion forward. Listen to business wars on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts. on music or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the Daily Stoic Podcast, where each day we bring you a passage of ancient wisdom designed to help you find strength, insight, and wisdom every day life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2,000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of histories, greatest men and women,

for more you can visit us at dailystowup.com. Have you ever had a motionless moment? We are so busy, we think we're supposed to be, we think that's how we get better, we think that moving is the only way forward. And you might think that Mark as a realist could relate. After all, he headed an entire empire. He had books to read, writing to do, laws to pass, cases to hear, troops to lead. So yes, he was a busy man. He, like us, was pulled in many directions. He had ambitions, worries, hopes, dreams. And yet, when he speaks most beautifully, it's of moments of quiet and calm. If you can cut free of impressions that cling to the mind, he said, free of the future and the past and can make yourself, as Impedically says, a

sphere rejoicing in its perfect stillness. Have you ever had a moment like that? If you have, you know how special it is. You know what kind of insights you were able to access, what kind of happiness crept in, what kind of peace you were able to feel. Marcus wrote that having that stillness allows us to concentrate on what living can be lived, the present moment. Only then he said, could you spend the time you have left in tranquility and in kindness and at peace with the spirit within you? You deserve moments like that, moments where you watch the snow fall, moments when you sit quietly with a book, moments when you look out the train window, not on a conference call,

not checking email, not wondering how long until you arrive in the city, but a moment to check in with yourself to think about your life and what you want to do with it, moments with loved ones, moments when you are grateful, connected, happy, creative in the zone, doing whatever it is that you do best. When the Stoics talk about stillness, they're not talking about some abstract notion, they're talking about maybe the most important thing you can be doing in your life. They are saying that all the work you are doing, all the thoughts you're expending, trying to get ahead, trying to force as a breakthrough, are pointless. The real way to charge ahead is to slow

down, to clear your mind, to rejoice in perfect stillness, free of the future and the past, fully present and locked in, you can do it. You deserve that. Like I know for me, one of the things I was really thinking about when I wrote stillness as the key was the idea that all the special moments in my life came not when I was doing stuff, but when I was not doing stuff. It was when I was looking at the train window. It was when I was reading a book at my kitchen table in my college apartment, and Marcus really

sort of fell on me like a ton of bricks. It was moments now with my kids, or it's moments in a run through a forest when I didn't hear anything, but this buzzing sound, and I couldn't figure out what this buzzing sound was, and I realized all I could hear were bugs. Bugs were so loud, it sounded like a chain saw. That's how quiet it was where I was. And so like these are the moments that I think we know our life is about.

We've talked before about how easy it is to become a slave to your stuff and how success can take you further from where you wanna go. I think we know that what we want in life where we're trying to go is moments of stillness and peace and tranquility and reflection and happiness. And yet, we make decisions that take us away from that thing. And so when the Stokes are asking

if you've had a motionless moment, they're asking, how are you spending your life? Are you getting the one thing that's supposed to make your life worth living? Are you doing what you need to be doing? Are you getting what you deserve? Are you living what can be lived, as Marcus said? Are you experiencing the present moment? getting what you deserve, are you living what can be lived, as Mark has said, are you

experiencing the present moment? The present moment can be all that you need if you so choose. And so these motionless moments to me are the greatest moments. It's sitting on a porch swing. It's, you know, it's sitting in an airplane cabin when everyone is falling asleep and you're not watching the movie, you're not doing anything, you're just there with yourself. It's moments with the journal in the morning, it's moments with the book, it's a quiet dinner with people you love, where it's a loud dinner with people you love. It doesn't have to literally be still,

but it's moments when you've tuned out the inessential, you've focused on what really matters, and you're there and happy and present and full. And that is what the Stoics would define joy as. And that's what the Stoics would say we're doing this work for. Hey, prime members, you can listen to the daily Stoic early and ad free on Amazon Music. Download the Amazon Music app today, or you can listen early and add free with Wondery Plus in Apple podcasts.