The Daily Stoic - Here’s What You Can Do With Those Long Odds

Episode Date: January 8, 2021

“To face long odds, to face what others call an “impossibility”—some people can handle this and some people can’t. Think of the chances that Epictetus faced, when the life expectancy for a wealthy person in Rome was only a few decades, but for a slave was abysmally lower. Think of Cato, trying to stand alone against Caesar. Think of the odds faced by Marcus to not be corrupted and destroyed by absolute power. Think of Washington as he and a ragtag militia stared down the greatest army and empire in the world. Think of Stockdale in that dank prison cell, his odds of survival next to nil, telling himself that he was going to turn this into the best thing that ever happened to him.”Ryan explains how a Stoic stands firm and does not give up hope even when at a disadvantage, 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/dailystoicSee 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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Here's what you can do with those long odds. To face long odds, to face what others call an impossibility, some people can handle this, and some people can't. Think of the chances that Epochetus faced when the life expectancy for a wealthy person in Rome was only a few decades, but for a slave was abysmally lower. Think of Cato trying to stand alone against Caesar. Think of the odds faced by Marcus to not be corrupted and destroyed by absolute power. Think of Washington as he and a rag tag militia stared down the greatest army and empire in the world. Think of Stockdale in that dank prison cell, his odds of survival next to Neil, telling himself he was going to turn this into the best thing that ever happened to him.

Sometimes the Stoics won these battles. Sometimes they didn't, but they always fought. That's what we do when we face difficult circumstances when it looks like the curtain is closing. A stoic rage is, rages against the dying of the light, a stoic does not go quietly into that good night. They stand instead like those 300 Spartans firm and ready. They hope against hope. They do not give in. They say this might be a foregone conclusion, but you're still going to have to make me. They know that fortune gives as suddenly as she takes and they're ready for that 1% chance. In fact, there's a part of the stoic that hears there is only a 1% chance and says not stupidly, not ironically, okay, so you're telling me there's a chance.

Whether you're facing the long odds of getting clean or getting your kids back, whether it's the odds of winning that election or that promotion, whether it's starting a successful business or making the Olympic team, you have to fight. You must rage against the odds, except the dim chances. Don't go quietly. Don't accept it passively.

Fight, fight with all you have. Thanks for listening to another episode of The Daily Stoke. It's mind blowing to me now that we are well over 30 million downloads of this show. It means so much to me to have all of you listen. If you want to help spread the word about the show, please leave a review on iTunes or whatever your favorite podcasting platform is. It helps a lot. And then of course, click subscribe. That's how we know how many people are listening and that that makes sure you get the episodes as they come in. So thanks again for listening to the Daily Stoke podcast.

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