Today’s word count: 548 words
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes 28 seconds
New week… new newsletter… new ideas?🤔
This week, I decided to take it back (way back) to ancient times and dig up some of my favorite Stoic quotes. I hope you enjoy reading them as much as I enjoy sharing them.
But before we begin, make sure to check this out!
👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇👇
Did this newsletter land in Promotions or Spam? No worries – here’s how to fix it:
https://www.beehiiv.com/blog/safelist-newsletter-senders-popular-email-services#gmail
Quote 1:
“It’s not what happens to you, but how you react to it that matters.”
- Epictetus (former slave, Stoic teacher and thinker)
So much of what happens to us in life has less to do with the event itself and more with how we react to it. Events are simply events. We are the ones who attach meaning to them – negative, neutral, or positive.
That’s why one person can perceive trauma as a catalyst for growth,
while another might see a raise at work as “bad” simply because someone else got a higher one.
Things will continue to happen around us and to us. That’s life.
But we are responsible for how we interpret, frame, and respond to those moments.
Quote 2:
“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.”
- Seneca (Roman statesman, philosopher, dramatist and Stoic)
Uhhh, this one hits me personally haha.
How often have you anticipated a situation only to realize it never really existed? That conversation with your boss you feared would bring criticism, but instead brought praise. Or thinking you wouldn’t get through a tough discussion, only to find it ended up being incredibly productive.
The moral? Most of what we suffer in life exists only in our imagination. It’s human to project our worries onto the world around us, but it’s also our responsibility to notice when we spiral into these “what-if” scenarios – and gently bring ourselves back to reality.
Quote 3:
“The obstacle on the path becomes the way.”
- Marcus Aurelius (Roman emperor, Stoic philosopher and writer)
Look back at your life and your journey… How many obstacles have you faced on your climb toward success? In hindsight, many of those obstacles weren’t just roadblocks – they became path-creators.
It’s the problem that forces us to find a solution. The challenge in business that drives innovation. The difficult conversation with your partner that clarifies the issue and helps you move forward together as a team.
Don’t shy away from obstacles – they are often the very way forward.
If this message resonated with you, don’t keep it to yourself.
Share it with someone who could use a spark this week.
Let’s lift each other up. 💛
On a personal note – I’ve noticed that how we react to what happens in life strongly correlates with how we see the world. And let’s be honest, our view of the world is always somewhat distorted from reality – after all, it’s our own subjective perspective.
So, how do we counter this? How do we become better humans? 😁
It’s simple: try putting yourself in other people’s shoes. What drives them? What triggers them? What makes them emotional?
It is so simple, yet not practiced enough.
😂🤣😂🤣
Connect With Me Here
Your Author
