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Welcome to another episode of the Daily Stoke Podcast. On Thursdays, we do double duty, not just reading our daily meditation,

but also reading a passage from the book, The Daily Stoke,

365 meditations on wisdom, perseverance, and the art of living, which I wrote with my wonderful co-author and collaborator, Steven Hanselman.

And so today, we'll give you a quick meditation from one of the Stoics, from Epititus Markis Relius,

Seneca, then some analysis for me, and then we send you out into the world to do your best to turn these words into works.

Your perspective is everything. Is your house dirty or just well played in? Are you struggling or growing stronger through resistance training?

Are you poor or unburdened? Are you rich or temporarily blessed?

The way we choose to describe ourselves and our situations determines so much of it.

The language we use gives us agency or deprives us of it, hurls judgment or provides hope. Which will it be?

In his meditations, Marcus Relius repeatedly toys with language and logic this way.

Multiple times, for instance, he tackles the concept of change, something that scares us all.

He tries to rephrase it, re-imagine it as a new beginning, as a form of growth, as a natural transition from the old to the new.

Then, once redefined, he later reminds himself that death itself is just change. And why be afraid of change? It's natural.

The power of perspective is critical. Yet most of the time we hand it over to other people or outside sources.

We let others determine our identity. We commiserate about labels. We accept the most pessimistic interpretation of things. Of course we're miserable. Of course we think we're stuck.

We have to remember what Shakespeare said. That nothing either good nor bad, but thinking makes it so.

Our life as Marcus Relius wrote is died by the color of our thoughts. Perspective is everything. So choose it wisely.

Authence or defense? This is today's entry in the Daily Stoke. 366 meditations on wisdom, perseverance, and the art of living. Which you can get anywhere books are sold.

And of course we've got the awesome premium leather edition designed to last forever. There in the Daily Stoke store. Which you can check out at store.dailystoke.com.

Seneca opens the entry today from moral letters 82. Fortune doesn't have the long reach we suppose she can only lay siege to those who hold her tight. So let's step back from her as much as possible.

Makia Valley who supposedly admired Seneca says in the prints that fortune is a woman and it is necessary in order to keep her down to beat her and struggle with her.

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