The Daily Stoic - We All Fall Short

Episode Date: April 23, 2020

By now, you may have seen the video. A devout religious woman grabs the hand of Pope Francis as he greets the crowd of pilgrims and children. He tries to move on.  She refuses to let go. In frustration, he slaps her hand and continues on. It’s not a pretty sight for sure. Especially for a man who has spoken so beautifully about kindness and compassion and humility. To call it “violence” would be an overstatement, but it was rudely out of character—a contradiction of what the man teaches and is supposed to be an example of. But here’s the thing: If you’re surprised and horrified, the problem is not the pope, it’s you. We all fall short. Seneca fell short. Marcus Aurelius fell short. Epictetus did too. Do you think they never lost their tempers? Never did the wrong thing? Ever failed to live up to their impossibly high standards? They, like the pope, like you, are human. Which means flaws. Which means messing up. Which means doing the exact opposite of what you believe and how you want to be (because you’re tired, because you were tempted, because you weren’t thinking). “Is it possible to be free from error?” Epictetus said. “Not by any means, but it is possible to be a person stretching to avoid error.” So don’t be too hard on other people, or even yourself. Accept apologies when given. Offer them readily when necessary. Learn from both other people’s mistakes and your own. And remember Pope Francis’ apology, because it was a wise one: "Love makes us patient. So many times we lose patience, even me, and I apologize for yesterday's bad example.”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. music or wherever you get your podcasts. Welcome to the Daily Stoic. For each day we read a short passage designed to help you cultivate the strength, 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 dailystowach.com. We all fall short. By now, you may have seen the video, a devout religious woman grabs the hand of Pope Francis as he meets the crowd of pilgrims and children. He tries to move on. She refuses to let go. In frustration, he slaps her hand and continues on.

It's not a pretty sight, for sure, especially for a man who's spoken so beautifully about kindness and compassion and humility, to call it violence would be an overstatement, but it was rudely out of character, a contradiction of what the man teaches and is supposed to be an example of. But here's the thing, if you're surprised and horrified, the problem is not the Pope, it's you.

We all fall short, Senica fell short, Marcus Aurelius fell short, Epic Titus did too. Do you think that they never lost their tempers, never did the wrong thing, ever failed to live up to their own impossibly high standards? They, like the Pope, like you are human, which means flaws, which means messing up, which means doing the exact opposite of what you believe and how you want to be, because you are tired, because you are tempted, because you weren't thinking, is it possible to be free from error? Epochita said, not by any means, but it is possible to be a person stretching to avoid error. So don't be too hard on other people or yourself, except apologies when given. Offer them readily when necessary. Learn from both other people's mistakes and your own,

and remember Pope Francis' apology because it was a wise one. Love makes us patient. So many times we lose patients, even me. And I apologize for my bad example. 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 ad-free with Wondery Plus in Apple Podcasts. Ah, the Bahamas. What if you could live in a penthouse above the crystal clear ocean working during the day and partying at night with your best friends and have it be 100% paid for? FTX Founder Sam Bankman Freed lived that dream life, but it was all funded with other

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From Bloomberg and Wondering, comes Spellcaster, a new six-part docu-series about the meteoric rise and spectacular fall of FTX and its founder, Sam Beckmanman Freed. Follow Spellcaster wherever you get your podcast. Hey, Prime Members, you can listen to episodes ad-free on Amazon Music, download the Amazon Music app today.