The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the art of living a good life.
Day 44
November 25th - Funny How That Works Out
"As for me, I would choose being sick over living in luxury, for being sick only harms the body, whereas luxury destroys both the body and the soul, causing weakness and incapacity in the body and lack of control and cowardice in the soul. What's more, luxury breeds injustice because it also breeds greediness."
-Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 20.95.14-17
From the Author:
"Stories about lottery winners tend to share one lesson: suddenly coming into a great deal of money is a curse, not a blessing. Just a few years after they get that big check, many lottery winners are actually in worse financial shape. They've lost friends, they've gotten divorced. Their whole lives have been turned into a nightmare as a result of their obscenely good fortune.
---
And yet the most common response from a cancer survivor, the person who went through the thing we all dread and fear? 'It was the best thing that ever happened to me.'
Funny how it works out, isn't it?"
Hardship has the benefit, if you successfully navigate through, of teaching you things that the easy way would not have. The earning of money, through purpose and action has a profound effect on a person, as opposed to having a fortune thrown at them. Though a lot of people may initially be excited for their riches, to go shopping, go on holidays, buy gifts for others... and then what? Do you think many people would want to go back to work after making millions?
A little related story of a dream I had a year or more back, which I recounted to Hats last night, was that I had had a dream, and woken up after feeling totally awful, because the dream was that I woke up (in the dream) to having a fortune of several billion dollars worth of bitcoin overnight. The idea that there was not going to be struggle, or at least work that needed to be done for my benefit really did not sit well with me. I feel like we, like our physical bodies, need resistance here and there to grow, and to have a feeling of satisfaction for enduring extended resistance. But not needing to have a purpose because you neutered your drive by gaining a fortune removes a great deal of resistance, but then it may be found more in the people in your lives, such as a spouse or friends.
Shevacai
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2023-11-25 20:27:07
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2023-11-25 20:27:07Event JSON
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"content": "The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the art of living a good life.\n\nDay 44\n\nNovember 25th - Funny How That Works Out\n\n\"As for me, I would choose being sick over living in luxury, for being sick only harms the body, whereas luxury destroys both the body and the soul, causing weakness and incapacity in the body and lack of control and cowardice in the soul. What's more, luxury breeds injustice because it also breeds greediness.\"\n\n-Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 20.95.14-17\n\nFrom the Author:\n\n\"Stories about lottery winners tend to share one lesson: suddenly coming into a great deal of money is a curse, not a blessing. Just a few years after they get that big check, many lottery winners are actually in worse financial shape. They've lost friends, they've gotten divorced. Their whole lives have been turned into a nightmare as a result of their obscenely good fortune.\n---\nAnd yet the most common response from a cancer survivor, the person who went through the thing we all dread and fear? 'It was the best thing that ever happened to me.'\nFunny how it works out, isn't it?\"\n\nHardship has the benefit, if you successfully navigate through, of teaching you things that the easy way would not have. The earning of money, through purpose and action has a profound effect on a person, as opposed to having a fortune thrown at them. Though a lot of people may initially be excited for their riches, to go shopping, go on holidays, buy gifts for others... and then what? Do you think many people would want to go back to work after making millions?\n\nA little related story of a dream I had a year or more back, which I recounted to Hats last night, was that I had had a dream, and woken up after feeling totally awful, because the dream was that I woke up (in the dream) to having a fortune of several billion dollars worth of bitcoin overnight. The idea that there was not going to be struggle, or at least work that needed to be done for my benefit really did not sit well with me. I feel like we, like our physical bodies, need resistance here and there to grow, and to have a feeling of satisfaction for enduring extended resistance. But not needing to have a purpose because you neutered your drive by gaining a fortune removes a great deal of resistance, but then it may be found more in the people in your lives, such as a spouse or friends.",
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