The Daily Stoic - Time Doesn’t Make Everything Better...It Just Makes Them What They Are

Episode Date: October 25, 2018

When we get dumped or we fail or we lose someone, we often hear that “Time heals all wounds” or some such remark, all of it in consolation. Obviously this is meant well, but it’s also frustrating--if only because it’s trite...and way too simple. As Rilke wrote, “Time does not ‘console’ as people say superficially; at best it puts things in their place and it creates order.” There is a Zen story about a man whose horse ran away. People said it was bad luck. Then the horse came back, which people thought was good luck, and then his son broke his leg while falling off it and people thought that was bad luck come round again. But because his leg was broken, the man’s son was saved from fighting and dying in a war, and the cycle went on and on. Time doesn’t make things better or worse, it simply makes them what they are. That’s why the Stoics talk about not rushing to judgment about anything, about waiting and seeing. Because we don’t know. Just giving something time isn’t automatically going to make it better--but it does at least give things a chance to shake out, for us to see the full picture. If there is one aphorism about time that we CAN rely on, that the Stoics would agree with, it's that 'time will tell.'That’s the moral of the Zen story too. Trying to label things as good luck or bad luck is shortsighted. It assumes that all the facts have been entered into evidence. It’s better to hold off on forming an opinion, because fate is constantly unfolding around us, and today’s bad luck may very well be setting up tomorrow’s good luck (and vice versa). Time isn’t a panacea, but it is a form of truth. So watch for it. Time will, in fact, tell.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 Stoke podcast early and add free on Amazon music. Download the app today. Welcome to the Daily Stoke. For each day, we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, insight, wisdom necessary for living the good life. insight, wisdom necessary for living good life. Each one of these passages is based on the 2000-year-old philosophy that has guided some of history's greatest men and women. For more, you can visit us at dailystoic.com. Time doesn't make everything better. It just makes them what they are. When we get dumped, It just makes them what they are. When we get dumped or we fail or we lose someone, we often hear that time heals all wounds or some such remark, all of it in consolation. Obviously, this is meant well, but it's also frustrating if only because it's trite

and way too simple. As Reelky wrote, time does not console, as people say superficially, at best it puts things in their place and creates order. There is a zen story about a man whose horse ran away. People said it was bad luck. Then the horse came back, which people said was good luck. And then his son broke his leg while falling off of it, and people thought that was bad luck come round again. But because the man's leg was broken, his son was saved from fighting and dying in a war, and the cycle went on and on.

Time doesn't make things better or worse, it simply makes them what they are. That's why the Stoics talk about not rushing to judgment about anything, about waiting and seeing, because we don't know. Just giving something time isn't automatically going to make it better, but it does at least give it a chance to shake out for us to see the full picture. If there is one aphorism about time that we can rely on, that the Stoics would agree with, it's that time will tell.

That's the moral of the Zen story, too. Trying to label things as good luck or bad luck is short-sighted. It assumes that all the facts have been entered into evidence. It's better to hold off, on forming an opinion, because fate is constantly unfolding around us. And today's bad luck may very well be setting up tomorrow's good luck and vice versa. Time isn't a panacea, but it is a form of truth. So watch for it. Time will, in fact, tell.

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