Using the last notch On my belt for the first time In a long, long, time. 😎 Daily Stoic: Do the right thing then move on. No need for me to sit around waiting for recognition or payback.  Doing the right thing is payment enough.  That is what I am meant to do on this Earth and I should be grateful that I am given the chance to do so. Today's Meditation: Daily Shakespeare:

Preparing my posts In preparation for a Trip with family. Daily Stoic: Patience takes practice.  I've been working on it for a while now, but I still have "miles to go before I sleep." As I become a better person, I must remember the work I've put in that has lead to my successes (and failures) so far.  I must remember that I did not come by these mental tendencies naturally, but had to build them from the ground up. Just because I am doing better than I did before is no reason to take shortcuts now. One of my father's favorite sayings — Slow and steady wins the race. — still applies.  No skipping ahead because I think I have this part down or because I think I see the end result of that part .  Do the work.  Take the time. Do better. Today's Meditation: Daily Shakespeare:

Playful thought flits by,  Showing its bright colors to The world as it soars. Daily Stoic: I missed this one the other day.  Luckily, there's not much that need be said about it.  I work to improve myself.  It not only makes me happier, it makes me happy. It's not about reward.  If it's about reward, then it is employment.  Employment is fine, so long as that the situation and everyone understands that.  Pretending to do something out of kindness (or duty or generosity, etc.) and then expecting payment (whether monetary, in-kind, or other) is dishonest. If I am doing something to be kind, I should not expect any sort of remuneration, financial or otherwise.  If that is my goal, then I should acknowledge that up front. Today's Meditation: From A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy

Missed this yesterday.  What was unbroken, is now  Broken. Ok. Now what?  Daily Stoic: It's simple, not easy.  Most of life's important things are. This would be a good time to reflect on that.  Posting everyday is simple (read, think, write, publish) but not easy (given enough iterations, I forgot).  It's disappointing, sure, but, Stoicially speaking, I understand that missing a day doesn't mean anything other than that I missed a day.  It doesn't call me to reevaluate my project. Nor do I worry this is the start of the end, that I'm losing my passion for this endeavour. It means no more than the fact that I did remember the day before.  The only thing that has meaning is what I do today and what I will do tomorrow.  Today, I will read. I will think. I will fast. I will write.  Tomorrow I will repeat the process as I have before.  It will go on. I will learn. It's all good.  Today's Meditation: ...

Work is what we do So we can do other things We like to do more.  Daily Stoic: Love what you do.  Lots of people misunderstand this idea. They think it means that they have to find a way to make a living wherever their passion lies. What a recipe for disaster.  Do you know how many people are (a) talented enough in a field that (b) pays well enough and are (c) lucky enough to find a universal confluence which allows (a) and (b) to happen to them at the same time ?  A big problem I have is that too many kids think that if they don't achieve this (nearly impossible) dream, then they must be a failure.  Bullshit.  One person in a thousand gets this lucky. The rest of us need accept that we didn't win the job lottery and must somehow live a satisfying and worthy life despite it.  Better to find a way to be good at what you do, to find a way to love what you are doing, than to try and find something you excel at and you love . . . that isn't ...

Well, it's been a week. Practicing my Stoic calm Has been a challenge. Daily Stoic: This applies to leaders of whatever stripe.  In my case, I lead my family.  That's as far as it goes.  Why?  Because I deliberately do NOT want to lead anyone else. Aside from being an introvert at heart (though I can put on my extrovert clown suit and perform if I must), I genuinely want to leave other people alone. If someone else is peacefully living their life, even a life I disagree with and would not choose for myself, then I have, should have , no say in what they do. It's their life; so long as they are not harming others, they can do as they please. I desire the same from others: if I am being peaceful, neither harming or encroaching upon the lives nor property of others, then I expect them to stay the hell out of my business. I have, and expect others do too, trouble enough directing my own life.  Why on Earth would I want to take on the onus of managing other peo...

Willing acceptance, Internalizing the Tao,  At one with both ways. Daily Stoic: Get on with it already.  I can whine later. Today's Meditation: From A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy

Reading my daily Philosophy, I'm struck by The depth of it all. Daily Stoic: It's the difference between education and learning. If I know the details of The Odyssey, but cannot explain the moral of the story, I have not understood the story.  Contrary, if I know the meaning of the story, but cannot explain what a cyclops is, I have still learned something. Education is convincing the teacher you have retained (at least temporarily) what they said.  Learning is getting it. I wish I'd known that truth earlier in life. Today's Meditation: From A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy From  A Guide to the Good Life  by William B. Irvine: Chapter 22: Practicing Stoicism Irvine ends his Stoic exploration with an examination of how Stoicism has helped his life, in hopes of inspiring others to give it a try. Besides being armor against insults and misfortune mentioned previously, benefits Irvine has seen from employing Stoic practices include a lessening of material desires, ...

Feeling good today I sprang to my feet to see Coffee not yet made . . . Daily Stoic: Good night, last night.  Slept well, which was nice.  Happened to wake at the right part of my sleep cycle this morning, so it was easy to get up.  But I've known days that didn't go this way. Late night; illness; insomnia; kids needing something in the middle of the night . . . the myriad things which interrupt my sleep all too often.  These are the things which make my mornings tough sometimes. But that's ok.  I signed up for this.  I chose this.  What is a sleepy morning compared to my child?  Or my health?  Or my spouse?  Or my duty? I have stuff to do.  Get out of my way. Today's Meditation: From A Calendar of Wisdom by Leo Tolstoy Mediation II: About Nasreddin Hodja Nasreddin Hodja is Turkey's (and perhaps all of Islam's) best-known trickster. His legendary wit and droll trickery were possibly based on the exploits and words of a historical i...

How many days fall Outside my notice? Passing Without being lived?  Daily Stoic: If a Roman emperor needs a pep talk to get out of bed, maybe it's ok I'm sometimes sluggish to rise.  If I had fuck you money , I'd still have to choose to get out of bed when it's warm and inviting and enchanted with the need for just a few minutes more....  Though my days would be free to relax or play or work as I wished, as some point I'll still have decisions to be made that I don't want to make. Actions to be taken that I don't want to do.  I understand, a little, that the money isn't what makes me happy or dejected. Money is a means to an end. It allows me to afford necessities and to fulfill dreams. My dreams and performing the work necessary achieve them, are what makes me happy.  Having fuck you money won't help if all I do is increase my desires exponentially. No matter how much money I have, if I cannot control my thoughts and wants, I will never ...

Carrying the fire,  Smoke rises through heavy mist.  Retaining virtue.  Daily Stoic: Carry the fire .  Today's Meditation: Daily Shakespeare: Julius Caesar | Act 2 Scene 2

The early bird gets  The joke. The early worm gets  Going, going, gone.  Daily Stoic: In his commentary on today's passage, Ryan Holiday talks about "have to" vs "get to." He makes a lot of sense  If my world is full of tasks, of requirements, or of things I must do, life sucks. If I accept what happens, practice casting it in a positive light, finding silver linings in the dross, then life is an experience to be lived instead of dreaded.  Today, nothing will happen against my will. Everything is going to be fine. Today's Meditation: From  A Calendar of Wisdom  by Leo Tolstoy Second Meditation: From Word Play: Linguistically dependent humor in English by Steve Browne

Friday doesn't feel Like Friday. Day's blur beyond The fading sunset. Daily Stoic: Circumstances often suggest I do different things according to what would be advantageous at the moment. Circumstances can go jump in a lake if it means I must ignore my moral obligation or sell my soul. Life is gray,  not black and white, yet I almost always know what is the right thing to do.  Partially, this is because I inherited the same internal moral voice we all have.  Partially, this is because I have taken the time to think about things ahead of time, putting in place principles by which I can evaluate problems. Doing the right thing is not always easy. Knowing the right thing to do, however, is usually not too difficult to suss out.  In those times when it isn't clear, I do the best I can.  That's all any of us can do. Today's Meditation: From  Letters from a Stoic: Epistulae Morales Ad Lucilium by Seneca From  A Guide to the Good Life  by William B. Irv...

A gift from a friend I'm truly blest to have known So long, this good man.  Amicus vitæ solatium.  Daily Stoic: I must be true to myself. But first I must be honest with myself. If I can do that, I'll find my Tao.  I am for kindness. This seems, to me, the root of virtue. It's the first lesson I want my kids to learn from me growing up. #BeKind  Today's Meditation: From  A Guide to the Good Life  by William B. Irvine: Chapter 22: Practicing Stoicism  Irvine offers more advice to those adopting Stoicism as a philosophy of life.  3. Use the trichotomy of Control. Identify what is up to you (what you have control over), what is not up to you (what you have no control over), and what is partially up to you (what you have some control over).  Irvine says he uses this for himself and for his friends when they are in a dither. He may ask them, "What can you do about it?" When they realize that the answer is liter...