The Daily Stoic - We’re Lucky Not To Get What We Want

Episode Date: July 30, 2019

There’s an old joke: When the Gods wish to punish us, they give us everything we’ve ever wanted. Look at most people who win the lottery. Look at most famous people. Look at most world leaders. To borrow an expression from one particularly unhappy world leader, what do they look like? They look like they’re tired of winning. Because winning isn’t actually as fun as it seemed like it would be...and most of what we want to win turns out to not really be worth it.This was Marcus Aurelius’ point. When we look at history and other people, it’s hard not to see “how trivial the things we want so passionately are.” But what if you don’t realize that yourself? Or rather, what if you don’t realize that the presidency or a billion dollars isn’t that meaningful until after you’ve given up everything for it? After you’ve traded your marriage or your principles or your youth to get it?"Now you're free of illusions," says a character in Ralph Ellison's Invisible Man. "How does it feel to be free of one's illusions?" The protagonist can only answer, "Painful and empty." In this way, we are almost lucky not to get everything we want, to not be allowed our trivial passionate yearnings. Because we are allowed to continue in ignorance. We don’t have to do the hard work on ourselves, and really look in the mirror. Of course, this is what a philosopher does all the time. Instead of hiding behind luck’s protection, or instead of continuing to lie to themselves that more, more, more will make them happy, they actually probe themselves. They question their desires. They look into the future and ask, “What would happen if all my dreams did come true? Why would I suddenly be happy then? Why can’t I be happy now instead?”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 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. We're lucky not to get what we want. There's an old joke when the gods wish to punish us that give us everything we've ever wanted.

Look at most people who win the lottery. Look at most famous people. Look at most world leaders to borrow an expression from one particularly unhappy world leader. What do they look like? They look like they're tired of winning. Because winning isn't actually as fun as it seemed like it would be and most of what we want turns out to not really be worth it. This was Marcus Aurelius' point. When we look at history and other people, it's hard not to see how trivial the things we want so passionately are.

But what if you don't realize that yourself? Or rather, what if you don't realize that the presidency or a billion dollars isn't that meaningful until after you've given up everything to get it, after you've traded your marriage or your principles or your youth to accomplish it. Now your free of illusions says a character in Ralph Ellison's invisible man, how does it feel to be free of one's illusions? The protagonist can only answer painful and empty. In this way, we are almost lucky not to get everything we want, not to be allowed our trivial passionate yearnings,

because we are allowed to continue in ignorance. We don't have to do the hard work on ourselves and really look in the mirror. But of course, this is what a philosopher does all the time, instead of hiding behind luck's protection or instead of continuing to lie to ourselves that more and more and more will make us happy. They actually probe it. They question their desires.

They look into the future and ask, what would happen if all my dreams come true? Why would I suddenly be happy then? Why can't I be happy now instead? In exciting news, we now have an obstacle is the way pendant. If you wanna carry this idea with you everywhere you go, it's a necklace you can wear. It says the obstacle is the way in the front

and has a mountain path carved through the steep mountain up to the top. And on the back, it has that quote from Marcus Realeas, the impediment to action, advances action, what stands in the way, becomes the way. You can check it out at dailystoic.com slash store. 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.