Shevacai

Pleb, Daily Stoic writer, #austrich

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2023-11-29 12:38:03 UTC

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https://image.nostr.build/350450b885d1a11b69338db8fe7db239d3b19f7496c705a0aff65e46a15f482f.jpg

2023-11-26 23:50:29 UTC

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Wow, we had a bit of rain over the weekend, but it turned out to be beautigul weather.
Thank-you, keeps me going, I've been enjoying the process of doing something new.
Getting out of your comfort zone is definitely going to make you feel a bit nervous, but it's what we need to grow!
I've got a little on between now and christmas, should be a nice ending to the year. Hopefully catch up soon!

2023-11-25 20:29:38 UTC

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I know I'll find myself floating down that way if the waters rise. Haha

2023-11-25 20:27:07 UTC

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.

2023-11-24 07:25:31 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 43
November 24th - Train to let go of What's not Yours
"Whenever you experience the pangs of losing someone, don't treat it like a part of yourself but as a breakable glass, so when it falls you will remember that and won't be troubled. So too, whenever you kiss your child, siblings, or friend, don't layer on top of the experience all the things you might wish, but hold them back and stop them, just as those who ride behind triumphant generals remind them they are mortal. In the same way, remind yourself that your precious one isn't one of your possessions, but something given for now, not forever..."
-Epictetus, Discourses, 3.24.84-86a
From the Author:
"At a Roman triumph, the majority of the public would have their eyes glued to the victorious general at the front - one of the most coveted spots during Roman times. Only a few would notice the aide in the back, right behind the commander, whispering into his ear, 'Remember, thou art mortal.' What a reminder to hear at the peak of glory and victory!
In our own lives, we can train to be that whisper. When there is something we prize - or someone that we love - we can whisper to ourselves that it is fragile, mortal and not truly ours."
The theme of the whole of November is "Acceptance / amor fati", so it makes sense that a lot of the entries have very similar themes, and this one is no different in a sense. It ties in the last two posts; 'The Glass is already Broken' and 'Attachments are the Enemy". All three have to do with holding onto something that is not truly yours. The glass can break, you have no control over that potential fate of it, or the lamp can be stolen. Attachments can be destroyed, if for a person - they could act or say a certain thing - and that attachment is gone.
We, our attachments and our belongings are fragile, mortal and not truly ours. We cannot hold anything without reasoned choice, or we may come to a cross of confliction. You must then make that reasoned choice.

2023-11-24 07:12:53 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 42
November 23rd - Attachment are the Enemy
"In short, you must remember this - that if you hold anything dear outside of your own reasoned choice, you will have destroyed your capacity for choice."
-Epictetus, Discourses, 4.4.23
From the Author:
"According to Anthony De Mello, 'there is one thing and only one thing that causes unhappiness. The name of that thing is attachment.'
Attachments to an image you have of a person, attachments to wealth and status, attachments to a certain place or time, attachments to a job or to a lifestyle. All of those things are dangerous for one reason: they are outside of our reasoned choice. How long we keep them is not in our control."
The Author goes on to talk about Epictetus having realised this some two thousand years earlier, and that once we have them we don't want to let them go; 'we become slaves to maintaining the status quo.'
We have one thing in our control, that is 'prohairesis'; our capacity for reasoned choice.
We cannot keep the attachments to things, unless we are willing to accept that the object of attachment, whether physical or conscious, is already broken. As was talked about in the last post. Neither the Author, nor Epictetus talk about this, but I think it is apt to combine the two. The Zen Master in the last post had an attachment to his cup. Epictetus had an attachment to a lamp. But only once we accept these attachments are not forever, nor are they anything but a certain projection of our own wants to an object or situation, can we demonstrate reasoned choice.

2023-11-22 14:42:37 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 41
November 22nd - The Glass is Already Broken.
"Fortune falls heavily on those for whom she's unexpected. The one always on the lookout easily endures."
-Seneca, On Consolation to Helvia, 5.3
From the Author:
"There is a story of a Zen master who had a beautiful prized cup. The master would repeat to himself, 'The glass is already broken.' He enjoyed the cup. He used it. He showed it off to visitors. But in his mind, it was already broken. And so one day, when it actually did break, he simply said, 'Of course.'
This is how Stoics think too. There is supposedly a true story about Epictetus and a lamp. He never locked his house, and so his expensive lamp was stolen. When Epictetus replaced it, he replaced it with a cheaper one so he could be less attached to it if it were stolen again.
Devastation - that feeling that we're absolutely crused and shocked by an event - is a factor of how unlikely we considered that event in the first place. No one is 'wrecked' by the fact that it's snowing in the winter, because we've accepted (and even anticipated) this turn of events. What about the occurances that surprise us? We might not be so shocked if we took the time to consider their possibility"
Over the years I've had my car in the driveway, for several months at a time, left unlocked regularly over night or when I'm not at the house. It, nor it's contents, were ever stolen. I've had my car broken into on two occasions, though. Both when the car was locked, though not in my driveway.
I feel like theres a point there of not having a fear, worry, or expectation for an event of this type to occur - to have something stolen or broken - if you can let go of attachment, or fear of losing the thing you're attached to.
I'm not saying the act of locking your house or car puts into the universe a frequency of "oh I hope no one breaks a window and steals my stuff", more that theres a feeling of surrender, and acceptance that something may already be broken or stolen.
I put out an frequency of safety, security for my person and belongings, and free passage for my movements and words. I believe that only good things happen. But I accept that I own nothing that I cannot defend, and that if something is broken or lost, I can repair or replace it, depending on the significance of the object.

2023-11-22 08:17:39 UTC

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“Gotta have opposites, light and dark and dark and light, in painting. It’s like in life. Gotta have a little sadness once in awhile so you know when the good times come. I'm waiting on the good times now.”
― Bob Ross
Exactly

2023-11-21 13:06:42 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 40
November 21st - Once Is Enough. Once Is Forever
"A good isn't increased by the addition of time, but if one is wise for even a moment, they will be no less happy than the person who exercises virtue for all time and happily passes their life in it."
-Chrysippus quoted by Plutarch in Moralia: "Against the Stoics on Common Conceptions," 1062 (Loeb, p. 682)
From the Author:
"Perhaps wisdom and happiness are like winning a medal in the Olympics. It doesn't matter whether you won a hundred years ago or ten minutes ago, or whether you won just once or in multiple events. It doesn't matter whether someone beats you time or score down the road, and it doesn't matter whether you never compete again. You'll always be a medalist, and you'll always know what it feels like. No one can take that away - and it would be impossible to feel more of that feeling.
The Juilliard-trained actor Evan Handler, who not only survived acute myeloid leukemia but also severe depression, has talked about his decision to take antidepressants, which he did for a deliberately brief time. He took them because he wanted to know what true, normal happiness felt like. Once he did, he knew he would stop. He could go back to the struggle like everyone else. He had the ideal for a moment and that was enough.
Perhaps today will be the day when we experience happiness or wisdom. Don't try to grab that moment and hold on to it with all your might. It's not under your control how long it lasts. Enjoy it, recognize it, remember it. Having it for a moment is the same as having it forever."
It's never a good idea to hold on too tightly to anything, I believe. Holding on to something, someone, some fortune, or some other good thing has a feeling of lack to it. You hold on so tight because you experience it rarely. You fear losing it, and so your mindset is stuck in a state of lack, of fear of losing, of fear of not feeling the good feelings again.
You must think abundance, and of course, gratitude. But you let the good times roll, and roll on. You wave goodbye as the good things vanishes into the distance, and before you know it, it's back at your heels.
“If you love somebody, let them go, for if they return, they were always yours. If they don't, they never were.”
- Kahlil Gibran
But it's also important to experience and come to peace with the bad times. Let them too roll. Wish them on their merry way, with gratitude for lessons learned.
Think in terms of tides. Of pendulums. Learn to sway with, do not be out of frequency, and find more greatness in the great, and more stability of self in the not so great.

2023-11-20 13:03:25 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 39
November 20th - Behold, Now as Ever
"If you've seen the present, you've seen all things, from time immemorial into all of eternity. For everything that happens is related and the same."
-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.3-7
From the Author:
"The events that will transpire today are the same as the things that have always occured. People living and dying, animals living and dying, clouds rolling in and rolling out, air sucked in and sucked out, a quotation from the moments that have come before and will come ever after.
This idea is expressed nowhere more beautifully than in the Christianity hymn 'Gloria Patri'. 'As it was in the beginning, and now, and always, and to the ages of ages."
This thought is not supposed to be depressing or uplifting. It's just a fact. However, it can have a calming, centering effect. No need to get excited, no need to wait on pins and needles. If you haven't seen this before, someone else has. That can be a relief."
In the greatest, most macro of scales, everything can be summed up in "birth, life, death". This is an endless cycle, and nothing changes. As we focus down the scales, we begin to see things that have also always happened. Love, unity, hate, war. Endless cycles for as long as earth has existed. Zoom in a bit closer, and we start to see successes and failures, small and large, of people, revolutions lead by some. But again it's not new. Small trials and tribulations for every day people, businesses opening and closing, partners loved and lost, animals cherished and grieved. It's all happened before, and will always happen.
The trees and grass grow, the animals and men cut them down to cycle them into food and habitation. As always.
We have the internal knowledge, or esoteric connection, to everything that has happened, and throughout history we have always prevailed. Someone has beaten the odds while working through the very thing you may be going through now. You've seen this before, you know how to resolve it.

2023-11-20 04:37:13 UTC

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It's definitely difficult to go from an Atheist/Agnostic PoV with a necessary "need to verify" (in my case, before even having conscious thought to 'Don't trust, Verify'), to a "trust the process of life" in whichever way it manifests for you (Higher self, God or gods, universe, soul). But whatever this is is something that is much bigger. But I do think theres an element of verification in it.
I've verified, when I've been conscious of it, that what I put out I do get back. When I allow things to flow, things flow in my favour. When I suggest that the universe conspires in my favour, it does.
It is absolutely a form of surrender and connection to something, and we can call it whatever makes us most comfortable. For some it is 100% Gods plan. For others who are less inclined, it can be as close as "I made it happen, I am the center of my universe and I call the shots", and I don't think that's far from the truth either.
As an aside, I've never read the bible, though I have read passages here an there. But during my very 'atheist' stage, which is something I can no longer commit to (as it does not serve my purpose), I always thought of the idea that since it was written, transcribed/translated multiple times over thousands of years, that it was not something to place a great deal of trust in. But the metaphors, similar to those that come from a place the philosophers, can be absolutely considered and weaved into our lives.
Thanks for your insight, Brisket. Appreciate you a lot brother.

2023-11-19 13:16:24 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 38
November 19th - Maxims from Three Wise Men
"For any challenge we should hold three thoughts at our command:
'Lead on God and Destiny,
To that Goal fixed for me long ago.
I will follow and not stumble; even if my will
is weak I will soldier on.'"
-Cleanthes
"Whoever embraces necessity count as wise,
skilled in divine matters."
- Euripides
"If it pleases the gods, so be it. They may well kill me, but they can't hurt me."
- Epictetus, Enchiridion, 53
From the Author:
"These three quotes compiled by Epictetus show us - in wisdom across history - the themes of tolerance, flexibility, and, ultimate, acceptance. Chealthes and Euripides evoke destiny and fate as concepts that help ease acceptance. When one has a belief in a great or higher power (be it God or gods), then there is no such thing as an event going contrary to plan.
Let's practice this perspective today. Pretend that each event - whether desired or unexpected - was will to happen, willed specifically for you. You wouldn't fight that, would you?"
This makes me think of the meme of the downtrodden man saying "Jesus, why do you give me your hardest battles", and Jesus is replying "because you are my strongest soldier" or something silly.
We find ourselves in situations that feel like uphill battles, and some may feel constant and never ending. But these events are lessons, and maybe if you push too hard against them, you find you lose more and more traction, slip further into what you perceive as near ruin. When this happens it's time to reassess. In some cases it's not meant for you, or not the right timing, and theres another opportunity to grasp hold of.
Someone very close to me has been working hard to build a business over the last few years, and while things look amazing, his work is fantastic, his business has not yet reached a point where he feels like his hard work has paid off. He's had wins, here and there, but ultimately feels like he's pushing through the deepest of depths. He expressed to me he was going to close the business down, and I told him not to worry if it comes to this, as it may release the pressure and allow things to flow, and for something to come along. Within three days of beginning to shut things down, someone reached out to him to collaborate, and it flipped things around in a positive way for him immediately.
Through all this pushing and struggle, he's also found a much higher calling, something he really wants to do. The original business, afterall, was not his passion. But he was able to let go, and dig deep, and that lightbulb moment occured and he has his mission.
It's still a process, but this was his fate. To learn the hardships, the struggles, the dispair, so he can truly experience the goodness, happiness and fruits of his labour.
We talk a lot about this period of his life, and he often wonders why there are so many setbacks, what is this telling him, how can he succeed. And we came to the conclusion that it doesn't matter. You keep going, maybe not pushing, but you just keep allowing opportunities to come, try to make something worthwhile, but never accept defeat or failure.

2023-11-19 12:54:53 UTC

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Interesting perspective indeed.
I thought of 1 as "If you can't verify truth, then don't. Don't hold positions you're not sure about, but use discenment in how much energy you give to those things."
For example, I don't accept the 'facts' we're given on many things in the world, such that there are many differing angles that one can take. The current Israel/Palestine war is an example I can use. There are people making good and bad points on both sides, depending who they support. They say x, y and z about one or the other, and I'm generally uncertain about if it's the truth, or if it's embellished to some point to pull heartstrings. I don't know the history, motivations, instigators, etc, so I can't accept what people just say.
For the common good aspect of number 2, I think of that as centralized and very small scale, because those are things that are more within my power. My family is whom I direct my energy to for the common good. Generally it's being a supportive son, taking on physical burdens and helping with emotional/financial burdens. I believe that if I can help my family the best way I can, and then possibly my community, then it's for a common good. But I don't assume the common good in the sense that I don't push a direction of my prefered outcome, only support those in which I align with.
Both relate to me as a man with a centralized power over my actions and thoughts.

2023-11-18 13:28:33 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 37
November 18th - Four Habits of the Stoic Mind
"Our rational nature moves freely forward in its impressions when it:
1) accepts nothing false or uncertain;
2) directs its impulses only to acts for the common good;
3) limits its desires and aversions only to what's in its own power;
4) embraces everything nature assigns it."
-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.7
From the Author:
"... let's align our minds along these four critical habits:
1. Accept only what is true.
2. Work for the common good.
3. Match our needs and wants with what is in our control.
4. Embrace what nature has in store for us."
Accepting only truth, or nothing uncertain, can be quite difficult without total knowledge, and in this day and age there are many things claimed to be true that are obfuscated, whether intentionally, or through lack of understanding/research. You must use critical thinking, as best you can, to determine if a claim is truth, or bad actors are attempting to lead you astray.
With misinformation being talked about by media, govt. officials and orgs, and people on social media, it's pretty clear that there is an agenda on who determines the truth. I think many could agree that those who claim for control over what we are fed as truth have something to hide. But that's not to say everything that is condemned by them /is/ truth. Use critical thinking.
Number three and four are very much about not striving for control outside and over that which cannot be in our control. Nature is as does. We can only accept what comes, and must not complain, lest we expend our energy complaining instead of using the momentum to steer in a direction that works for us, within our wants, needs, and abilities.

2023-11-17 14:38:26 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 36
November 17th - Judge Not, Lest...
"When philosophy is wielded with arrogance and stubbornly, it is the cause for the ruin of many. Let philosophy scrape off your own faults, rather than be a way to rail against the faults of others."
-Seneca, Moral Letters, 103.4b-5a
From the Author:
"Remember, the proper direction of philosophy - of all things we're doing here - is focused inward. To make ourselves better and to leave other people to that task for themselves and their own journey. Our faults are in our control, and so we turn to philosophy to help scrape them off like barnacles from the hull of a ship. Other people's faults? Not so much. That's for them to do.
Leave other people to their faults. Nothing in Stoic philosophy empowers you to judge them - only to accept them. Especially when we have so many of our own."
First is to acknowledge we have faults, then is to explore the breadth and depth of them, then to recognise how they affect your and those around you.
If we can do these things through questioning ourselves, even to dark places, and giving completely honest answers to ourselves, and breaking down that pride that we have of self-perfection, then we can heal, or scrape the barnacles off.
One of the biggest faults that many may have is hypocrisy; holding others to standards that we don't hold ourselves to. Whether it's consciously or subconsciously, we will always forgive ourselves before others, if it allows us to absolve ourselves of blame. Which is another fault, along with judgement, that many have, or find themselves falling for.
Take responsibility for your journey, but not another's. Have humility and patience while others start what you are already underway on.

2023-11-16 13:59:19 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 35
November 16th - Hope and Fear are the Same.
"Hecato says, 'cease to hope and you will cease to fear.' ... The primary cause of both these ills is that instead of adapting ourselves to present circumstances we send out thoughts too far ahead."
-Seneca, Moral Letters, 5.7b-8
From the Author:
"Hope is gennerally regarded as good. Fear is generally regarded as bad. To a Stoic like Hecato (known as Hecato of Rhodes), they are the same - both are projections into the future about things we do not control. Both are the enemy of this present moment that you are actually in. Both mean you're living a life in opposition to amor fati.
It's not about overcoming fears but understanding that both hope and fear contain a dangerous amount of want and worry in them. And, sadly, the want is what causes the worry."
The idea that Hope and Fear are the same is a new one to me. But I'm fascinated how it's a blindspot that I didn't realise I had in a sense. In the last few years I've lowered my time preference, and I've often thought about the future, and hoped it could be something amazing. Rather, I should just be staying in the now, realising that I need to do the work today, so that these things may come into fruition, without hope, but with determination, focus and work.
I know, without hope, that my future will be bright. I've always said that to myself. I also have no fears for the future because of this. No hope needed, no fear felt.

2023-11-15 13:45:33 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 34
November 15th - Everything Is Change
"Meditate often on the swiftness with which all that exists and is coming into being is swept by us and carried away. For substance is like a river's unending glow, its activities continually changing and causes infinitely shifting so that almost nothing at all stands still."
-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.23
From the Author:
"Marcus borrows this wonderful metaphor from Heraclitus, who said, 'No man steps in the same river twice.' Because the river has changed, and so has the man.
Life is in a constant state of change. And so are we. To get upset by things is to wrongly assume that they will last. To kick ourselves or blame others is grabbing at the wind. To resent change is to wrongly assume that you have a choice in the matter.
Everything is change. Embrace that. Flow with it."
This one is very similar to November 9th - All is Fluid.
But it takes a different look at it. Times where your pursuits go your way, and times when the trials feel against you, will not last. It's better to steel your resolve, ready yourself for impacts, but allow the impacts to come with knowledge that it is change in one way or another. It might offer you solutions, opportunities or rest. Each of these may come in a form that your subjective outlook will determine to be good or bad, easy or difficult, and may sway your energetic rhythm to and fro. But each are a chance for you to learn from, to flow with, and to improve upon, steeling your resolve further, removing subjective from the objective, and see that what ever it is, it just is.
Let go of the blame, upset, and resentment of others, events, or change.

2023-11-14 15:18:51 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 33
November 14th - You Choose the Outcome
"He was sent to prison. But the observation 'he has suffered evil,' is an addition coming from you."
Epictetus, Discourses, 3.8.5b-6a
From the Author:
"This is classic stoic thinking, as you've gathered by now. An event itself is objective. How we describe it - that it was unfair, or it's a great calamity, or that they did it on purpose - is on us.
Malcolm X (then Malcolm Little) went into prison a criminal, but he left as an educated, religious, and motivated man who would help in the struggle for civil rights. Did he suffer an evil? Or did he choose to make his experience a positive one?
Acceptance isn't passive. It's the first step in an active process toward self-improvement."
Make the best of every opportunity and you'll see nothing bad happens /to/ you. Only based off our subjective thinking does an objective event take a form whether good or bad. But all events can be spun, some harder than others, to be good, or at least one you can take a positive lesson from.
Perspective is also a huge part of this, I believe that if you can put into perspective an event and it's impact upon us, most things are of extremely small impact. You got cut off, you stubbed your toe, You broke a nail, a bird shit on you. All very minor things, less than a day and it'll be gone from your mind. So the event is objective and of little significance, but our subjective frame on the event is how we allow things to affect us.
Start to become conscious of all the times you curse under your breath, catch yourself and consider a universal reason for the event, or that it just doesn't matter, and let it go.

2023-11-13 15:05:06 UTC

I have been listening to this over and over for the last two or so weeks.
Incredible set, close your eyes and listen.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nUCbeb-BeI4

2023-11-13 15:00:53 UTC

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Stoic cat understands there is no tomorrow.
There is only now.
Stoic cat knows not to worry.
Worrying does not serve you.
#note1mfv…y9jv

2023-11-13 14:49:38 UTC

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Great build, Jeff. Very snappy website, feels great to use.
Expansion on the categories may be super necessary, as there is no "politics" label, "Animals, pets, cute things" type category maybe too.
A few phone/os/ type posts popped up that didn't really fit in with Science and tech > internet tech. Maybe more like a "hardware/software" option in there too.
I'm not sure how expansive you wish for this to be though.

2023-11-13 14:01:54 UTC

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https://image.nostr.build/905e89d753c34391f246eae52296f1675a82332138fd8261218453fe82397d4b.jpg

2023-11-13 13:57:27 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 32
November 13th - Never Complain, Never Explain
"Don't allow yourself to be heard any longer griping about public life, not even with your own ears!"
-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.9
From the Author:
"It's so easy to complain about this or that, or to try to make excuses or justifications for the things you've done. But that doesn't accomplish anything - and it never lightens the load."
Similarly to worry, complaining accomplishes nothing. Worry puts you through an event twice, and it's better to just take events as they come, and not worry of an outcome. It's better to do your best to deal with any situation on the spot, rather than run around in circles, throwing worst case scenarios into the universe. Rather, let it go, or think of the best case scenario, or how you will tackle the situation.
As with complaining, if something isn't working and it emotionally, mentally, physically or spiritually pains you, then do something about it. Whatever is in your power to change, change it. Speak to someone in a logical, results forward way. Find out how to change your situation for the betterment of your life, and hopefully not the detriment of anothers. If that's not possible, and the detriment caused could be too great, attempt to remove yourself.
"But why should I?" Why should you remove yourself, and why can't the other person (if it a person who pains you)? Do they know? Are they aware? Or have you just been complaining to others for the sake and satisfaction of having another agree with you? Why should you be the bigger person and take into control what you can and create a more positive flowing life for yourself?
Do not even complain in the privacy of your home or mind, as this upsets the mindframe that is required to succeed daily. Do not let the actions of others weigh you down, focus only on what you can achieve, and worry not.
No one likes a complainer who has no offerings of solutions. Be the solutions guy.
Mind; often we may feel the need to rant, to get something off our chest. Pick the person to open up to carefully, do not burden them, or do not pick someone who will take your burden. Be your own mule, or shed your pack to the winds.

2023-11-12 14:48:34 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 31
November 12th - The Strong Accept Responsibility
"If we judge as good and evil only the things in the power of our own choice, then there is no room left for blaming gods or being hosile to others."
-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.41
From the Author:
"As the president of our own lives - and knowing that our powers begin and end with our reasoned choice - we would do well to internalize this same attitude (Of President Truman - "The Buck Ends Here" - you have no one to blame but yourself, no one to pass the buck to). We don't control things outside that sphere, but we do control our attitudes and our responses to those events - and that's plenty. It's enough that we go into each and every day knowing that there is no one to pass the buck to. It ends with us."
I wrote a post on Twitter a year or two ago (I'm not much of a poster, so it was a spur of the moment thought that I needed to get out) in regards to taking responsibility, and that I'm seeing more and more that people of all ages no longer take responsibility for many things in their lives, and rather outsource these things to others. Whether it's authorities, people they see as better equipped than them, for lack of interest or time to find the answers and confidence to take into their own hands their lives.
The post was very much centered on health at that stage, and that people will not take responsibility for what they eat, drink, or what they put on their bodies, and blame illness on factors out of their control (there are very few of these I honestly believe), or other people 'making them sick'. They then go to the doctor, who's education consisted of very short period on diet, and possibly nothing on light environment or other energetic aspects. These doctors do not treat root cause most often, and prescribe pills in many cases. This is outsourcing health because one cannot take responsibility.
Another is finances. We're seeing through Bitcoin how we can take responsibility in a greater way of our finances, but I fear that self custody is going to be an uphill battle, since people seemingly don't understand the importance of taking responsibility.
I think a fear of many is that if they fuck something up for themselves, they can't claim miscommunication, mistreatment, or misallocation and absolve themselves of the mistake.
It takes real courage to admit mistakes, to learn and grow from them. It takes humility, too, to face up and tell someone you were wrong. But when it comes to your own self, humility is admitting you don't know, and finding answers for yourself, testing and verifying things (such as a carnivore diet for health), and courage is taking the steps to take control of your life and removing those safety nets that don't help, but rather hinder and reduce the freedom and quality of life you may have.

2023-11-12 14:24:38 UTC

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Pretty much exactly what I was talking to my mum about in regards to a friend. She's dealing with eating disorders, drinking, making bad relationship decisions etc, and my logic brain tells me to tell her how she can fix these things, but the knowledge that she doesn't want fixes, just an ear, means that I basically have to let her suffer and deal with this until she's really ready to fix things. Shes making the choice to suffer rather than facing the difficult realities of her life.

2023-11-12 11:35:40 UTC

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"What beliefs do you maintain that no longer serve your desires?" Is a good question that everyone should ask themselves.
I feel like a lot of beliefs that I have held (and still have some lingering thoughts on) is about other people, and it's partly judgemental in that I believe the vast majority of people are asleep in their daily lives, and I don't blame them. It's all too easy to fall into apathy when their lives are filled with drudgery, fear, whatever. I see it when I see people buying junk, poison filled foods in the grocery store, or when I see people taking no concern about others in the flow in traffic (taking forever to move off from a set of lights for example), that lack of any sparkle in their eyes as they move through life semi blindfolded, and I can't help but feel a little frustration towards that apathy.
But it does not serve me.
But it does allow me to hold myself to a certain standard, to keep aware of those around me on the roads, in the stores, on the street. I acknowledge and smile, and hope that I leave people with a good feeling after any kind of interaction.
I believe this is all just part of the balance and harmony of the universe, in that I hope to raise people's vibration, and therefore the collective.
So I guess it's a little bit of a double edged sword, but I care a lot about others, maybe to a slight detriment.

2023-11-11 13:26:24 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 30
November 11th - It's Not The Thing, It's What We Make Of It
"When you are distressed by an external thing, it's not the thing itself that troubles you, but only your judgement of it. And you can wipe this out at a moments notice."
-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.47
Excerpts from Author:
"Franklin Delano Roosevelt, now widely regarded as one of America's greatest political leaders was, in middle age, diagnosed with polio after spending years preparing for and dreaming about the presidency.
It's impossible to understand FDR without understanding this disability. The "external thing" was that he was crippled - this was a literal fact - but his judgement of it was that it did not cripple his career or his personhood. Though he was certainly the victim of a then incurable disease, he wiped away - almost immediately - the victim's mentality.
Let's not confuse acceptance with passivity."
I've talked about external factors, and most people describe them as 'happening to them'. In this case I would admit polio happened upon FDR, but most things that can be described as negative, which may be allowed to affect ones outlook on life, or to sully their day, doesn't 'happen to them'. It happens, and we take it on board, and allow it to affect us, rather than let it be an outside factor that does not have to sour us.
Things happen, and our opinion of it is all that we can control, it's all that we have. Why would you bemoan, constantly, things that feel like setbacks, incidents that cost or waste time, when we could rather use our energy to strive onwards, look at the bigger picture, see it for a tiny blip that likely won't matter in a day, month, 5 years.
Tying this into another aspect of the universe - 'where thoughts go, energy flows.' What you focus on, you attract, and over-thinking, worrying, or complaining about certain things that are happening doesn't make your situation any better - you may just appear as a victim - and in many cases, worrying is just putting yourself though an impending horrible situation twice. Why would you do that to yourself?
I had a housemate who would get very serious when I described myself or someone else as "Happy-go-lucky", because it's such a rare attribute to a person, and that it's not a term to 'throw around' as it were. But I really think that people who can differentiate themselves from the things happening, and focusing on the silver lining, or considering everything to be a real gift for growth, to be exactly this kind of person. I even consider myself to be somewhat happy-go-lucky. Many things tend to work out for me, theres no resistance, opportunities pop up and sometimes I'm wise enough to recognise them.

2023-11-10 16:38:13 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 29
November 10th - Always the Same
"Think by way of example on the times of Vespasian, and you'll see all these things: marrying, raising children, falling ill, dying, wars, holiday feasts, commerce, farming, flattering, pretending, suspecting, scheming, praying that others die, grumbling over one's lot, falling in love, amassing fortunes, lusting after office and power. Now that life of their is dead and gone ... the times of Trajan, again the same..."
-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 4.32
From the Author:
"Ernest Hemingway opens his book 'The Sun Also Rises' with a Bible vers: 'One generation passeth, and another generation cometh; but the earth abideth forever. the sun also riseth, and the sun goeth down, and resth to the place where he arose.'
One of the striking things about history is just how long human being have been doing what they do. Though certain attitudes and practices have come and gone, what's left are people - living, dying, loving, fighting, crying, laughing.
Breathless media reports or popular books often perpetuate the belief that we've reached the apex of humanity, or that this time, things really are different. The irony is that people have believed that for centuries.
Strong people resist this notion. They know that with a few exceptions, things are they same as they've always been and always will be. You're just like the people who came before you, and you're but a brief stopover until the people just like you who will come after. The earth abides forever, but we will come and go."
The only things that really change are the extremes, and names - or 'spins' - on already existing practices, goods, or attitudes. It may seem like degeneration to many, much of it does to me.
Extremes in technology, and commodification of attention spans, may be an exception, but what our ancestors did and what we do are not all that much different. We all want the best for ourselves and those around us, and the ways we go about this - working, producing, creating, caring for, supporting, providing for our loved - aren't new. There's nothing new under the sun.
But things are spun like propaganda, once peaceful entities are spun to be enemies, poisons and toxins are spun as foods and medicines, every aspect of our health is outsourced and we're relieved of our self-responsibility, we've lost trust in the institutions that don't trust us with our autonomy - banking, policing, health, and everything becoming more and more extreme in the opposite direction, but it's always been this way, perhaps? A lot of all these things come by the control of our attention spans, because if we weren't distracted by the cavlcade of talking heads, 7 second long videos, and the struggles of food and living security, we'd all probably see that soyslop is not food, pills are not medicine, our money is debased, we're restricted in basically everything in our lives, and have to ask permission if we wish to do anything, and that we're being lied to.
But it's always been like that, right? It's just the extremes that these things have been taken to. The best we can do is make the best of the positive "sames" that our ancestors did, and to instill those thoughts and beliefs into our children and hope they can do the same. (And also end the Fed, end the state, end the control structures and take back our sovereignty and autonomy.)
Little bit of a rant on this one - thanks for reading.

2023-11-09 13:59:11 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 28
November 9th - All is Fluid
"The universe is change. Life is opinion"
-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 4.3.4b
From the Author:
"Our understanding of what is something 'is' is just a snapshot - an ephemeral opinion. The universe is in a constant state of change. Our nails grown and are cut and keep growing. New skin replaces dead skin. Old memories are replaced by new memories. Are we still the same people? Are the people around us the same? Nothing is exempt from this fluidity, not even the things we hold most sacred."
The author mentions the Ship of Theseus - the Athenian hero - which was preserved by the people of Athens in battle-ready condition for many centuries by replacing rotting boards until every stick of wood had been replaced. Plutarch asks: "Is it still the ship of Theseus, or is it a new one?"
The same in Japan, the famous Shinto Shrine is rebuilt every twenty-three years. Is it one 1,400 year old shrine? or sixty consecutive shrines?
As time marches on, we pick up new habits, new opinions, new learnings, new beliefs, and fresh outlooks on the life we and those around us lead. Everything is in a constant state of change, sometimes seemingly in regression. But everything moves ephemerally forwards.
The nature of the universe, the expression of communities, even to ones mind, is in a constant state of movement, entropic change. It's inescapable, yet we can direct it, at least as much of it that is in our control - our thoughts and actions. We can go deep into thought and question why certain patterns arise and nudge beliefs, especially those of self determination, or self defeat - or believing that you can't do something, towards those that will push you to strive, without struggle against the tides.
We are currently at the precipice of the start of a huge change that will forever impact the landscape of humanity, incentivising man and woman to find their true nature and embracing it. To become more aligned.
Godspeed.

2023-11-08 13:45:21 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 27
November 8th - Actors in a Play
"Remember that you are an actorin a play, playing a character according to the will of the playwright - if a short play, then it's short, if long, long. If he wishes you to play the beggar, play even that role well, just as you would if it were a cripple, a honcho, or an everyday person. For this is your duty, to perform well the character assigned you. That selection belongs to another."
-Epictetus, Enchiridion, 17
From the Author:
"Our station in life can be as random as a roll of the dice. Some of us are born into privilege, others into adversity. Sometimes we're given exactly the opportunities we want. At other times we're given a lucky break, but to us it feels like a burden.
The Stoics remind us that whatever happens to us today or over the course of our lives, wherever we fall on the intellectual, social, or physical spectra, our job is not to complain or bemoan our plight but to do the best we can to accept it and fulfill it. Is there still room for flexibility or ambition? Or course! The history of the stage is littered with stories of bit parts that turned into starring roles and indelible characters that were expanded in future adaptations. But even this begins with acceptance and understanding - and desire to excel at what we have been assigned."
I'm not sure where or when I first heard about it, nor how it ties in with Samsara, the Hindu belief of reincarnation, but a theory that resonates with me is such; in the afterlife, we review our lives, whether that's God's judgement, or a coordinated effort to see what you learned, then you choose another role, and other lessons to learn, in the next life. Each life giving yourself different 'fate' lines, where you invite other souls/spirits to come along and play their part along side you.
I think overcoming adversity, having gratitude, patience and being accepting of who you are is a big part of navigating the lessons, trials if you will, that we have set for ourselves.
And despite this, having potentially limitless impressions on this world, birth, life, death, rebirth, we must realise that we don't carry from one to the next our memories consciously, and therefore we must treat this like our only life, our precious, limited time, to do the best we can, to be the best we can with what tools we're given.
Become the star of the show if you wish, and put your whole self out there. Maybe the lesson to be learned is humility. Or be a wallflower, keep to yourself and a small group - and perhaps learn that you must be more open, that you must seize whats infront of you.
Whatever it is, along with your purpose, find it. Run with it. What's the worst that can happen?

2023-11-07 15:29:24 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 26
November 7th - How To Be Powerful
"Don't trust in your reputation, money, or position, but in the strength that is yours - namely, your judgements about the things that you control and don't control. For this alone is what makes us free and unfettered, that picks us up by the neck from the depths and lifts us eye to eye with the rich and powerful."
-Epictetus, Discourses, 3.26.34-34
Excerpts from Author:
"In a scene in Steven Pressfield's classic novel about Alexander the Great, The Virtues of War, Alexander reaches a river crossing only to be confronted by a philosopher who refuses to move. 'This man has conquered the world!' one of Alexander's men shouts. 'What have you done?' The Philosopher responds, with complete confidence, 'I have conquered the need to conquer the world'.
We do know that Alexander did clash with Diogenes the Cynic, a philosopher known for his rejection of what society prizes and, by extension, Alexander's self-image. Just as in Pressfield's fictional encounter, in Diogenes real confrontation with Alexander, the philosopher was more powerful than the most powerful man in the world - because, unlike him, Diogenes had fewer wants. They were able to look each other in the eye and see who really had control over himself, who had achieved the self-mastery required for real and lasting power. You can have that too. It just means focusing inward on acquiring power rather than outward. As Pubilius Syrus, himself a former slave, put it: 'Would you have a great empire? Rule over yourself!'"
"Every man has a kingdom inside him
Will he ever see
What is here in the now is the reason
Find the path for his soul to be free
Deep inside is the key..."
Dungeon - The Power Within
Not only do we all have an Empire, or a Kingdom, inside us, we have the ability to dig deep for the key. In self mastery this would reflect our abundance and gratitude for what we have, or our ability to extend our time horizon the future, or to discipline ourselves in ways of physical training, philosophical thinking and prayer. To keep your word and to pursue what matters, doing what helps your growth. Not in power over others, but over yourself. The power within.

2023-11-06 13:39:49 UTC

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You didn't add #footstr to the description! Feets is art too!

2023-11-06 13:34:00 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 25
November 6th - Someone Else Is Spinning The Thread
"If the breaking day sees someone proud,
The ending day sees them brought low.
No one should put too much trust in triumph,
No one should give up hope of trials improving.
Clotho mixes one with the other and stops
Fortune from resting, spinning every fate around.
No one has had so much divine favor
They they could guarantee themselves tomorrow.
God keeps our lives hurtling on,
Spinning in a whirlwind."
- Seneca, Thyestes, 613
From the Author, paraphrased:
"To the ancients, Clotho, one of the three Greek goddesses of fate 'spun' the thread of human life. She decided the course of the events of our lives - some good. Some bad.
A triumph becomes a trial, a trial becomes a triumph. Life can change in an instant. Remember, today, how often it does."
"When the gods send evil, one cannot escape it."
- Aeschylus, playwright.
I'm constantly reminded that 'this too shall pass'. It seems that everytime I go through a rough time, the goddesses relieve me, let me breathe fresh air once again. I don't tend to go through many trials, or maybe I do and just don't notice how bad it could be for others if they were in my situation. I see others go through great trials, though, and then see their triumphs on the way, and it reinforces the ups and downs of life, and to not spend time wallowing on the trials, nor celebrating the triumphs, but to look forward to each trial as an opportunity to triumph over, then onto the next.
Fate is spun outside of our control, and we never know what tomorrow will bring. The only thing we can control is how we react to each hurdle and haven.
Remember; This too shall pass, and the clouds will part, and the sun will shine on your face. But don't spend too much time basking, because there is much work to do.

2023-11-06 05:28:05 UTC

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Thanks S. Appreciate you <3

2023-11-05 13:28:45 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 24
November 5th - A Higher Power
"This is the very thing which makes up the virtue of the happy person and a well-flowing life - when the affairs of life are in every way tuned to the harmony between the individual divine spirit and the will of the director of the universe."
-Chrysippus, Quoted in Diogenes Laertius, Lives of the Eminent Philosophers, 7.1.88
From the Author:
"It's also clear that this wisdom is beneficial to us all. you don't have to believe there is a god directing the universe, you just need to stop believing /you're/ that director. As soon as you can attune your spirit to that idea, the easier annd happier your life will be, because you will have given up the most potent addiction of all: control."
So the author (Ryan Holiday and/or Stephen Hanselman) talks about 12 step programs for addicts, and how many get stuck on step 2 - acknowledging a higher power, and getting out of their own way.
Serenity Prayer:
"God grant me the serenity
To accept the things I cannot change;
Courage to change the things I can;
And wisdom to know the difference."
-Reinhold Neibuhr (1892-1971)
A very well known prayer that tends to pop up a lot in addiction recovery programs, because it allows one to give oneself a chance to let go, and come to terms with the fact there are things one can't control. Life is much more peaceful and simple when you (As @npub1jmy…6xcq said) "Be like water". To stop trying to herd cats, or at least to not give rise to negative feelings and energies when the cats climb up curtains, hide under couches and push glasses of water off tables instead of being corralled by you.

2023-11-05 08:12:44 UTC

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Absolutely. Jeff Booth is a brilliant man, and what he and also Brisket said are so spot on. We need to be lazer focused on the signal, not buzzing around with the noise.
Thanks for your words, Keystroke.

2023-11-05 08:09:30 UTC

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"The tighter we weave the yarn, the longer the tapestry will last."
Pure poetry.
Has been a great weekend, surrounded by bitcoiners this weekend. Thankyou so much again!

2023-11-05 08:07:45 UTC

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One of the things I have trained myself to do the opposite of that I see others do is define what they desire by telling the 'Universe' what they don't want.
"I don't want to be poor anymore"
"I wish I wasn't sick"
"I wish I wasn't so lonely"
etc.
The universe doesn't see the negation of the subject, just the subject.
Your comment about CBDCs (TG) is very succinct and appropriate for this post also - Not fighting CBDCs, not giving them the energy, but being aware of it, and using our knowledge to work around, rather than struggle against.
Be like water. Absolutely.
Thanks Brisket. Appreciate you.

2023-11-04 15:09:23 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 23
November 4th - Not Good, Nor Bad.
"There is no evil in things changing, just as there is no good in persisting in a new state"
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 4.42
From the Author:
"When people say change is good, they're usually trying to reassure someone (Or themselves). Because instinctively we view change as bad - or at least we're suspicious of it.
The Stoics want you to do away with those labels altogether. Change isn't good. The Status Quo isn't bad. They just are.
Remember, events are objective. It's only our opinion that says something is good or bad (and thus worth fighting against or fighting for). A better attitude? To decide to make the most of everything. But to do that you must first cease fighting."
When I think of the last few years on the world stage, and the things we were told to do, think and believe, I remember the initial stages of me finally opening my eyes. I remember thinking how much I wanted to fight this overarching power structure, to deliberately disobey to prove that they had no power over me. Then after some time I realised that the truth is they don't, and therefore I don't need to fight. I will just live the way I want and pay no mind to those who wish me to act according to their agenda.
The way we feel about change is determined by how we see certain events or future trends playing out. But just like preference in music, and even the evolution of music, it's entirely opinion, not necessarily truth. One person may like Rap, and you may think it's the most awful thing to be played on the radio, but neither you or the other person's opinion is true, or correct.
I always feel some amount of disgust for the direction the general world is going, but I realise it's less important to dislike that, and more important to focus on the change I want. In myself, in who I surround myself with, in what we build, and how we can all contribute to a shared goal. In the mean time, despite everything, I make the most of, and be grateful for, all the good and positive things.

2023-11-04 14:53:46 UTC

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"It's easier & more fulfilling to clean/repair your lens that it is to fight what the universe is trying to show you."
100%. Listening to the quiet voice, rather than responding to the screaming voice of your body telling you things is much more peaceful.

2023-11-03 14:36:07 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 22
November 3rd - Following the Doctors Orders.
"Just as we commonnly hear people say the doctor prescribed someone particular riding exercises, or ice baths, or walking without shoes, we should in the same way say that nature prescribed someone to be diseased, or disabled, or to suffer any kind of impairment. In the case of the doctor, prescribed means something ordered to help aid someone's healing. But in the case of nature, it means that what happens to each of us is ordered to help aid our destiny"
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.8
From the Author:
"... When it comes to external events, we fight like hell if anything happens contrary to our plans. But what if, Marcus asks, a doctor had prescribed this exact thing as a part of our treatment? What if this was as good for us as medicine?..."
My understanding of this is what makes us grow. Taking responsibility makes us grow a sense of self preservation, perhaps. Being forced to take a look at what you're doing, via some illness of sorts that come from a life of certain lack of activity, nature, nourishing food, is the same thing.
Illness is often no more than a cry from your body to reassess the environment you're in, the thought patterns and beliefs you entertain all day, and the people who's ideas are pushed onto you in some way or another. "We fight like hell" if we become sick in the middle of an important timely event in our life, so that we can successfully navigate through stresses and deadlines. But why do we only fight then, and not in every day to ensure our bodies are in best physical and mental health? Lessons to be learned are medicine for the growth of our self.

2023-11-02 14:26:25 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 21
November 2nd - Binding our Wishes to What will Be.
"But I haven't at any time been hindered in my will, nor forced against it. And how is this possible? I have bound up my choice to act with the will of God. God wills that I be sick, such is my will. He wills that I should choose something, so do I. He wills that I reach for something, or something be given to me - I wish for the same. What God doesn't will, I do not wish for."
- Epictetus, Discourses, 4.1.89
'Everything we could think of has been done, the troops are fit everybody is doing his best. The answer is in the lap of the gods."
- General Dwight D. Eisenhower to his wife on the eve of the invasion of Normandy
He had written two letters, the other was ready for release in the circumstances that the invasion was a failure. 'If failure was what God - or fate or luck or whatrever you want to call it - willed, he was ready.'
Despite assembling perhaps the most powerful army, he was humble enough to know that the outcome ultimately belonged to someone or something bigger than him.
"And so it goes with all our ventures. No matter how much preparation, no matter how skilled or smart we are, the ultimate outcome is in the lap of the gods. The sooner we know that, the better we will be."
This ties in a little with the most recent post I made - Accepting What Is. I feel like this is a preemtive kind of step. Be prepared for what could be from all angles, and accept that they are all possible, and then to be at peace with what the outcome is. This is again a 'if it's not meant to be, it won't be' from the gods, another door is waiting for you.

2023-11-01 13:23:43 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 20
November 1st - Accepting What Is
"Don't seek for everything to happen as you wish it would, but rather wish that everything happens as it actually will - then your life will flow better."
-Epictetus, Enchiridion, 8
"It is easy to praise providence for anything that may happen if you have two qualities: a complete view of what has actually happened in each instance and a sense of gratitude. Without gratitude what is the point of seeing, and without seeing what is the object of gratitude?"
-Epictetus, Discourses, 1.6.1-2
From the Author:
"Something happened that we wish had not. Which of these is the easiest to change: our opinion or the event that is past?
The answer is obvious. Accept what happened and change your wish that it had not happened. Stoicism calls this the "art of acquiescence" - to accept rather than fight every little thing.
And the most practiced Stoics take it a step further. Instead of simply accepting what happens, they urge us to actually enjoy what has happened - whatever it is. Nietzsche, many centuries later, coined the perfect expression to capture this idea: "amor fati" (A love of fate)"
You must have a ducks back to start, then you must be a pig enjoying the shit he's rolling around in.
It's not easy at all to just simply accept what happens to us (Or better - what we experience that we misunderstand as 'happening' to us), but when you can leave things in the past that you perceive as negative, or when you can see that, for example, the car driving slowly in front of you, - infuriatingly slow - is actually fatefully put there to stop you from potentially making a mistake, getting a fine, or worse, the better off you will be.
That's a very simple to see example that you can recognise in life, but there are many potential examples. Like you don't succeed at a certain venture, maybe you simply weren't working from the soul, instead chasing something that wasn't truly you. If you can't let go of those feelings of failure, disappointment and resentment, then you won't see the door that has opened up in front of you.
Even more difficult than accepting what is, is cherishing the experiences that aren't to plan. But the more you accept, the more you leave those negative emotions, feelings and actions behind, the more you change your mindset, the more perceived positive things happen, and the cycle continues.

2023-11-01 13:06:01 UTC

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It's definitely hard to separate yourself from the idea of good and evil people.
Today I did some work on a wood fired cooker for an absolutely lovely older couple. They were absolutely ecstatic that I was there, since they'd been without it for a long time, and had had trouble getting someone to fix it up for them.
They were incredibly appreciative of me, and I told them how grateful I am that I get the chance to work for such incredible people, the gentleman said "That's because of you, you created that" (getting back what you put out). And it's absolutely true. The manifested reality I've put myself in is one where I only seek out individuals who's intentions are of good, and that my experiences are positive.

2023-10-31 12:55:04 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 19
October 31st - You were Born Good
"The human being is born with an inclination toward virtue."
- Musonius Rufus, Lectures, 2.7.1-2
"All of us have been made by nature" Rufus said, "so that we can live free from error and nobly - not that one can and another can't, but all."
From the Author:
"The notion of original sin has weighed down humankind for centuries. In reality, we're made to help each other and be good to each other, We wouldn't have survived as a species otherwise."
I think it's important to note the last sentence, despite all the horrible ways people treat others, from positions of assumed/non consensual authority (Which makes it's way into media seemingly more than good), the fact we've lasted so long is the majority population will come together for mutual benefit and coordinate peacefully with one another. The majority of people are good, with perhaps a small minority being selfish, and another small minority being outright evil.
I like "Bill and Ted"'s saying "Be excellent to each other". Excellency isn't just a higher 'tier' of goodness, but encompasses striving to do the best you can by another.
"You were born with an attraction to virtue and self-mastery. If you've gotten far from that, it's not out of some inborn corruption but from a nurturing of the wrong things and the wrong ideas."
Many are led astray from the path of goodness, of excellency, to their own lives and to their interactions with others. Virtue has been spun, perverted perhaps. Or maybe in a Libertarian way, it's only expanded, but I think virtue as we see it (to use a very common phrase - 'Virtue Signalling') is not what real virtue is. Real virtue isn't blind to truth, ignorant to nature, or 'forcing square pegs into round holes'. When it comes to whats true, and what comes from nature, we must not just accept everything as virtuous, but I think we must always be excellent to each other.

2023-10-31 12:30:54 UTC

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In a couple weeks! I hear you're bringing a bbq or something? Can't wait to catch up and have a steak.

2023-10-31 09:58:24 UTC

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Hodling is the best gift for future you/children. To not spend is to be highly selfless. To spend is to recognise high value transfer of goods, and services. Everything about Bitcoin is a win.

2023-10-30 11:34:02 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 18
October 30th - Who Gets the Lion's Share?
"Aren't you ashamed to reserve for yourself only the remnants of your life and to dedicate to wisdom only that time can't be directed to business?"
-Seneca, On the Brevity of Life, 3.5b
Alexander the Great would say to those who would offer him some of their land in hopes he would leave them alone while he was conquering, that he 'hadn't come all the way to Asia to accept whatever they would give him, but instead they were going to have to accept whatever he chose to leave for them'.
From the Author:
"According to Seneca, we should treat philosophy the same way in our lives. Philosophy shouldn't have to accept what time or energy is left over from other occupations but instead we should graciously make time for those other pursuits only once our study is finished".
There is time in the day to have your work done to cover your needs, and some, and then there is time in the day to study whatever it is you feel best serves you. Whether it's for a new occupation, a hobby you wish to turn into a form of income, or just for your own personal clarity of your self and future. What Seneca suggests may be less viable in todays age, but Bitcoin does allow us to have the chance to step off the treadmill in order to persue other things than a 9-5 job. Choose what you do with your time wisely.

2023-10-29 11:10:33 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 17
October 29th - Character is Fate
"Each person acquires their own character, but their official roles are designated by chance. You should invite some to your table because they are deserving, others because they may come to deserve it."
-Seneca, Moral Letters, 47.15b
From the Author:
"When you seek to advance your own position in life, character is the best lever - perhaps not in the short term, but certainly over the long term. And the same goes for people you invite into your life."
People successes and circumstances are not always a reflection of their character, as some may have had handouts, leg-ups, "who you know, not what you know", and other such advantages. Past performances don't always give a good indication of future performances, unless it's due to the character the person has developed; focus, discipline, ambition, for example.
Low time preference people will understand that ones capabilities, skills learned, and rules laid for ones future is more important than chance and hope to fall into a position that is beyond their merit. Work on yourself, your skills - people and practical. Find something to work towards, and do it all with honesty and surround yourself with similarly minded people.

2023-10-28 13:35:30 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 16
October 28th - We were Made for Each Other
"You'll find more quickly an earthly thing kept from the earth than you will a person cut off from other human beings"
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 9.9.3
From the Author:
"Naturally, Marcus Aurelius and the rest of the stoics were not familiar with Newtonian physics. But they knew that what went up must come down.
That's the analogy he's using here: our mutual interdependence with our fellow human beings is stronger than the law of gravity."
Aristotle called us 'social animals', in that we need to be there for others, and allow others to help us. We need to have that energetic connection that, despite the radical advances of technology and social networks we've built (I don't necessarily mean 'social networks like facebook at twitter'), we're possibly not as connected to each other as the Romans and Greeks were, or any period leading up to the 21st century.
What I like most about these thoughts is how I can tie them into Bitcoin - something we can talk about, philosophise and dream about, and give us a reason to create real world communities, because it's something that is so completely tied to the real world. Allowing us to interact with each other, to share, help, provide, support each other. It's a connection that surpasses hobby trends and financial means.
Socialising is what makes us human. Being able to interact with honesty in our word and our Medium of Exchange, backed by proof of our work, as well as the protocol makes that socialising so mutually beneficial.

2023-10-27 14:07:22 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 15
October 27th - We Reap what we Sow
"Crimes often return to their teacher."
- Seneca, Thyestes, 311
https://image.nostr.build/b509e5777db19b1e6825513a8f20a9cb6ac0c32dd3ba36abd96bd872c332c2ee.jpg
From the Author:
"It's something to think about when you consider whom to work with and whom to do business with in life. If you show a client how to do something unethical or illegal, might they return the favor to an unsuspecting you later on? If you provide a bad example to your empolyees, to your associates, to your children, might they betray you or hurt you down the road? What goes around, comes around, is the saying. Karma is a notion we have imported from the East, along similar lines."
This one is quite an easy one. Another similar would be;
"So in everything, do to others what you would have them do to you, for this sums up the Law and the Prophets."
- Matthew, 7:12
Everything is a balance of energies. A pendulum swings one way, but it must swing back. Pendulums are a bit strange though, as one can be a turning of the tides, perhaps a breakdown of the current status quo into something else. But it's important to keep putting out energies with best intentions, not in the way that the karma will come back and make it self serving, but so that you can collectively bring honesty, truth and respect to the forefront of every interaction.

2023-10-26 12:54:47 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 14
October 26th - Three Parts, One Aim.
"The best and the greatest number of authors have asserted that philosophy consists of three parts: the moral, the natural, and the rational. The first puts the soul in order. The second thoroughly examines the natural order of things. The third inquires into the proper meaning of words, and their arrangements and proofs which keep falsehoods from creeping into displace truth"
- Seneca, Moral Letters, 89.9
https://image.nostr.build/1cd3ba40feecb4c08fbeec56b6a8c7fc731ae033e2f85eca0f84bd95e3251731.jpg
From Author:
"These three parts - the moral, the natural, and the rational - have one aim. As different as they are, they have the same purpose: to help you live a good life ruled by reason. Not in the future, but right now."
Focusing on the 'rational' for this first part, because it deals with the proper meaning of words, arrangements and proofs. Keeping what is true (to nature and the natural order of things), true.
In our every day lives we have people telling us all kinds of things they claim as true, despite them clearly, to the rational thinker, being complete falsehoods. People are confused.
Merriam-Webster dictionary a few years ago added to the definition 'literally', 'figuratively/virtually'. Changing the definition from truth to loose exaggeration of the truth.
Words matter, usage of the correct terminology matters, and intentions with using words need to be rooted in truth.
Harkening back to a previous post I talked about a book "The Four Agreements" by Don Miguel Ruiz, one of the other four agreements discussed was "Be impeccable with your word." Speak truth without trying to convince people of something that isn't rational, natural or that which puts the soul in order.

2023-10-25 14:10:27 UTC

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Adding a few tags to see what reach I get
#stoic
#marcusaurelius
#epictetus
#philosophy
#musings

2023-10-25 14:07:27 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 13
October 25th - Two Tasks
"What, then, makes a person free from hindrance and self-determination? For wealth doesn't, neither does high-office, state or kingdom - rather, something else must be found... in the case of living, it is the knowledge of how to live"
- Epictetus, Discourses, 4.1.62-64
From the Author:
"You have two essential tasks in life; to be a good person and to pursue the occupations that you love. Everything else is a waste of energy and a squandering of your potential. How does one do that? Ok, that's a tougher question. But the philosophy we see from the Stoics make it simple enough: say no to distractions, to destructive emotions, to outside pressure. Ask yourself: 'What is it that only I can do? What is the best use of my limited time on this planet?'."
How do you detatch yourself from, and stop giving your energy in todays world when everything is designed to be a distraction. Tik tok is a distraction from wars in Eastern Europe, Middle East. Politics is a distraction from why our money doesn't hold it's buying power. News is a distraction from your family and community. Movies and sitcoms are distractions from your day job and other smaller responsibilities.
How do you relieve yourself of destructive emotions once you've taken a side on the political fence, or social issues that you have no power over, when everything is divided into sides, psy-ops, good and bad, and all you can do is get angry at the 'enemy', people just like you who, in most cases, want to be free, left alone?
How do you ignore the outside pressures of living up to a certain standard in anothers eyes? Or how to not be sucked into buying every little thing that we're bombarded with day in, day out on billboards, tv and radio ads, in newspapers, magazines, on your phone when you scroll through Tik Tok or Twitter (thankfully not nostr)?
It's time to go inside yourself, shut out everything so you can think in peace, for one fucking second, and pull yourself out from the undertow of the waves of extraneous life that wants to keep pulling you under, keep your energy flowing to the pendulums, feeding the beast, as it were.
Breathe for a moment, and find what you can do for yourself, your family, friends and community, in the most positive, powerful and impactful way you can muster. If you must put yourself in a position outside of this, make sure it's damn well worth the fight, because in most cases, the odds may seem stacked against you, and it will be a drain on your energy.

2023-10-24 15:16:09 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 12
October 24th - The Fountain of Goodness
"Dig deep within yourself, for there is a fountain of goodness ever ready to flow if you will keep digging"
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.59
From the Author:
"Today, we could hope that goodness comes our way - good news, good weather, good luck. Or we could find it ourselves, in ourselves. Goodness isn't something that's going to be delivered by mail. You have to dig it up inside your own soul. You find it within your own thoughts, and you make it with your own actions.''
Relating to yesterdays post about gratitude; gratitude is an appreciation of the goodness in yourself, in your life, in the things you are capable of doing. Finding and expressing that goodness may end up being the mail delivery for someone else. Bad weather shouldn't dampen you, things not going exactly as planned should only give you reason to search for the good that comes out of the change, the silver lining. Remember, the universe, God, conspires in your favour, always, as long as you allow it to.

2023-10-23 13:12:24 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 11
October 23rd - Show the Qualities your were made for.
"People aren't in awe of your sharp mind? So be it. But you have many other qualities you can't claim to have been deprived of at birth. Display then those qualities in your own power: honesty, dignity, endurance, chastity, contentment, frugality, kindness, freedom, persistence, avoiding gossip, and magnanimity."
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 5.5
Excerpt from Author:
"It's easy to blame our circumstances. One person curses that they weren't born taller, another that they're not smarter, with a different complexion, or born in a different country...
... But whatever your perceived deficits are, remember that there are positive qualities that you can develop that don't depend on genetic accidents"
"You have the choice to be truthful. You have the choice to be dignified. You can choose to endure. You can choose to be happy."
You have all these choices that you make every day, not just the actions you take, but the thoughts you create, the story you write in your head as you go through your day. Make conscious effort to recognise what thoughts don't serve you. Show people who you are with positive outgoing expressions, show gratitude for what you have, and for things that happen around you that you experience.
Gratitude is a powerful thing, because with the thought energy of gratitude we ripple out into the universe a message that responds with more of the same. Showing the world our positive attributes, especially that of gratitude for what we have, and who we are, rather than bemoaning the things we don't have, will better encourage you, and those around you, to see things in a more positive light. Doing this will create a world for you where you see good things happening around you, influenced by your thoughts, rather than seeing bad things happening /to/ you, caused, you might think, by the universe conspiring against you.
Mantra: "The universe conspires in my favour"

2023-10-23 00:56:14 UTC

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The very first book I ever read and finished was "Let's get invisible". After that I consumed Goosebumps (and then later Animorphs) like no tomorrow.
Spotify now does audiobooks, so Im going to listen to some of them through that again.

2023-10-22 13:08:57 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 10
October 22nd - It's Easy to get Better. But Better at What?
"So someone's good at taking down an opponent, but that doesn't make them more community-minded, or modest, or well-prepared for any circumstance, or more tolerant of the faults of others"
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 7.52
Balancing the benefits of personal physical, financial, or otherwise social pursuits with those of compassion for others, having the time to enjoy your family and friends and the love that should overflow to them is more important than just the former alone. Be healthy, strong, stable, courageous , and charismatic. Be loving, have time for others, support those around you who mean the most to you.
From the Author:
"Let's not confuse getting better at /stuff/ with being a better /person/. One is a much bigger priority than the other."

2023-10-22 08:27:59 UTC

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It would definitely be a good habit to make too!.

2023-10-22 08:19:16 UTC

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It would definitely be a good habit to make too!.

2023-10-21 13:39:10 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 9
October 21st - Heroes, Here and Now.
"Such behavior! People don't want to praise their contemporaries whose lives they actually share, but hold great expectations for the praise of future generations - people they haven't met or ever will! This is akin to being upset that past generations didn't praise you."
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.18
From the Author
"Instead of wasting even a second considering the opinions of future people - people who are not even born yet - focus every bit on yourself on being the best person you can in the present moment"
I think doing the best, being the best, you can, should include projecting into the future as much and as far as you can for the betterment of others, irrespective of who knows your name, or the fact you'll be dead and not know. This isn't to suggest that you can't do that and also praise those around you now for having a similar mindset of empowering the next generation, as well as the current, and to push each other to new heights.
Be grateful for your ancestors for doing what they could, for your current position and what your have already, and have yet to, achieve, and that gratitude will ripple forwards in time beyond you. Leave a mark if you can, but just do your best.

2023-10-20 14:33:27 UTC

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gm tata, its breadtiem for me, so gn!

2023-10-20 13:42:56 UTC

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Edits;
Day 8.
October 20th.

2023-10-20 13:42:01 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 7
October 29th - Marks of the Good Life.
"You have proof in the extent of your wandering that you never found the art of living anywhere - not in logic, nor in wealth, fame, or in any indulgence. Nowhere. Where is it then? in doing what human nature demands. How is a person to do this? By having principles be the source of desire and action. What principles? Those to do with good and evil, indeed in the belief that there is no good for a human being except what creates justice, self-control, courage and freedom, and nothing evil except what destroys these things."
-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 8.1.(5)
Authors note;
"As Viktor Frankl points out in 'Man's search for meaning', it is not our question to ask (What is the meaning of life? Why was I born?). Instead, it is 'we' who are being asked the question. It's our lives that are the answer.
No amount of travel or reading or clever sages can tell you what you want to know. Instead, it is 'you' who must find the answer in your actions, in living the good life - by embodying the self-evident principles of justice, self-control, courage, freedom, and abstaining from evil."
Something I've learned a lot in the last few years is how important to a man his purpose is. If you have no purpose, you have nothing to strive for, work for, or to cast into the future your energy. If you find purpose in things that you carry discipline of principled action into - justice, self-control, courage, and freedom - then your life will be well lived. Do things on your terms, with everything at stake for your, and your childrens, future.
Build, share, teach, learn. Do all things with integrity to yourself and others. Do not be a destroyer of good things, but lay aside the evil that does not serve you or others.
I think we're collectively doing this, and being able to do so with confidence, with Bitcoin. We're casting aside the theft, violence and building something incredible for our children, and theirs, in the face of everything that wants to destroy us and them.

2023-10-19 22:01:02 UTC

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The playful mindset makes things so easy! Have a little laugh at your own expense, not taking anything too seriously is good.

2023-10-19 21:57:13 UTC

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It's a more modern render of the character/suit from an old 90s game titled "MDK". Fun game, goofy sound effects and all.

2023-10-19 13:13:22 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 7
October 19th - Good Habits Drive out Bad Habits
"Since habit is such a powerful influence, and we're used to pursuing our impulses to gain and avoid outside our own choice, we should set a contrary habit against that, and where appearances are really slippery, use the counterforce of our training"
-Epictetus, Discourses, 3.12.6
From authors notes;
'When a bad habit reveals itself, counteract it with a commitment to a contrary virtue. For instance, let's say you find yourself procrastinating today - don't dig in and fight it. Get up and take a walk to clear your head and reset instead'
'Good habits have the power to drive out bad habits. And habits are easy to pick up - as we all know.'
I've recently been making a few habits a focal point in my life, particularly post sunset/pre bed. Eating before sun down, wearing blue blockers, taking flush niacin. Rather than give excuses why any of it could be forgone for a night, I tell say to myself 'not today, brain worms', as a little joke where I defy the little voice in my head telling me it's ok to not do these little things.
Creating good habits that have a positive result further in the future is best of low time preference. Start something today, continue tomorrow, repeat all week, reap the rewards in time.

2023-10-19 12:05:09 UTC

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Thanks Brisket, I appreciate you a lot mate.
I guess if you can bounce the judgement you put on others onto yourself, your awareness of how you treat yourself expands. Rather than being harsh you can reflect, as you said, and make better thought process choices, which will spill into your externally projected thoughts towards others.
Agreed on the acceptance aspect. Refering back to a previous post I made (About M), accepting the person who judged or wronged you (In the sense of them 'not living up to your standards'), as a form of forgiveness, and moving into a more loving space can only be good, as it will attract more of the same.
Your last statement is interesting, because it can easily be understood by different people quite differently. The key is catching yourself when those feelings arise and processing them, rather than your feelings leading your words and actions. Ask yourself 'why does this persons words/actions evoke this feeling in me', and like you said, how does this relate to past traumas.

2023-10-19 11:53:24 UTC

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It's absolutely a positive sum game. Giving people, especially those who may be ignored by many, some time to hear their story is something I very much enjoy doing. Giving them a voice, when they're trying to pick up the pieces.

2023-10-18 13:32:23 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 6
October 18th - Frenemies
"There's nothing worse than a wolf befriending sheep. Avoid false friendship at all costs. If you are good, straighforward, and well meaning it should show in your eyes and not escape notice"
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 11.15
Full author note;
It's pretty obvious that one should keep away from the wicked and two-faced as much as possible - the jealous friend, the narcissistic parent, the untrustworthy partner. At first glance, Marcus Aurelius is reminding us to avoid false friends.
But what if we turn it around? What if, instead, we ask about the times that we have been false to our friends? Ultimately that's what Stoicism is about - not judging other people's behavios, but judging our own.
We've all been a frenemy at one point or another. We've been nice to their face - usually because there was something in it for us - but later, in different company, we said how we really felt. Or we've strung someone along, cared only when things were going well, or declined to help even though someone really needed us.
This behaviour is beneath us - and worth remembering the next time we accuse someone else of being a bad friend.
Over my life I've moved away from certain people, who were friends at some point, due to not wanting to be used for any kind of non reciprocated energy exchange of any sort, nor wanting to knowingly play one someones sensibilities for my own gain, for such petty gain at that too.
I think its important that we all find people who's flow of giving and taking energy matches yours, and an honest communication for those times when needed.

2023-10-17 13:18:58 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 5
October 17th - The Benefit of Kindness
"A benefit should be kept like a buried treasure, only to be dug up in necessity.... Nature bids us to do well by all.... Wherever there is a human being, we have an opportunity for kindness"
-Seneca, On the Happy life 24.2-3
Except from notes
'..and you can treat them well and be better off for it. The same is true with the second person you encounter, and the third. Of course, there is no guarantee that they will return the favor, but that's not our concern. As always, we are going to focus on what we control: in this case, the ability to choose to respond with kindness'
I read years ago the difference between being 'nice', and being 'kind', was; kind is loving and honest, nice is pleasing and positive (though not always honest, and not always with loving intentions)
I've always prefered to try to be kind, as opposed to nice, but it can be difficult being blunt with people who's feelings you might not want to offend.
But being kind can absolutely be of mutual benefit.
Anecdote - I spent nearly 2 hours speaking with a homeless guy, early/mid 50s, today. He spends time out front of the shopping center I frequent, and I'd had some passing conversations with him previously. Today I sat and really had a good conversation. At the end of it he told me, along the lines of, 'because of who I am, and my not wanting to go into shelters with people who are on drugs, I don't have a lot of friends... this morning I prayed that someone, likeminded, would talk with me" and I responded "And here I am".
I don't just simply want to equate what I did with 'kindness', but how often is it that someone may strike up a conversation that isn't just shallow pleasantries.
Be kind to someone today.

2023-10-16 14:33:55 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 4
October 16th - Spread the Word
"Some people with exceptional minds quickly grasp virtue, or produce it within themselves. But other dim and lazy types, hindered by bad habits, must have their rusty souls constantly scrubbed down.... The weaker sorts will be helped and lifted from their bad opinions if we put them in the care of philosophy's principles."
-Seneca - Moral Letters 95.36-37
Seneca believed that "Everyone deserves to benefit from "philosophy's principles", and that "behaviour is always a better example than a lecture"
I think I'd like to put this into terms of Bitcoin, for myself and others.
What bitcoin has taught me, by virtue of surrounding myself with others, is low time preference is preferable. To be able to delay instant gratification in order to enjoy something at a later date. Putting more effort into what I do, gaining the willpower to say no. It's helped my health (diet), and my cold storage (bitcoin) by not eating junk, not buying junk. Leading by example, showing restraint, thinking into the future. I hope in interactions and conversations with others, who don't already see the world this way, I can provide some idea or clarity in their minds of a less degenerate way of life, since we know such a life is rampant.

2023-10-15 14:23:43 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
Day 3
October 15th - Give People the Benefit of the Doubt.
"Everything turns on your assumptions about it, and that's on you. You can pluck out the hasty judgement at will, and like steering a ship around the point, you will find calm seas, fair weather and a safe port."
-Marcus Aurelius - Meditations 12.22
This one has been adopted by many writers of "how to life" type books, one that comes to mind is Don Miguel Ruiz, who wrote 'The Four Agreements" and "The Fifth Agreement", both of which I enjoyed.
An Excerpt from The Daily Stoic on this page;
"Even a dog... distinguishes between being stumbled over and being kicked.'
Initial reactions are rarely easily stifled, a yelp of pain from the dog, but the calm voice reassures them quickly, a person's reaction might be to assume malice, though not always the case.
From "The Four Agreements";
"If we don’t make assumptions, we can focus our attention on the truth, not on what we think is the truth."
Letting yourself be free from assumption can relieve an overthinker from her cell. Your energy is best used to understand, research, discover. Not to assume a situation/person.

2023-10-15 01:16:13 UTC

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This was my bedroom as a kid. Dad let me paint it whatever colour I wanted. Naturally it was Orange. (A bit more burnt than BTC orange though.)
https://image.nostr.build/a4863c08a9d2d9b8ce367dd8a2882600c368e5150fed7247586347c60448b8fa.jpg

2023-10-14 13:52:32 UTC

The Daily Stoic - Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the Art of Living
October 14th. Don't get Mad. Help.
"Are you angry when someone's armpits stink or when their breath is bad? What would be the point? Having such a mouth and such armpits, there's going to be a smell emanating. You say, they must have sense, can't they tell how they are offending others? Well, you have sense too, congratulations! So, use your natural reason to awaken theirs, show them, call it out. If the person will listen, you will have cured them without useless anger. No drama nor unseemly show required."
-Marcus Aurelius, Meditations 5.28
Many, myself included, seem to want to feel the anger, as if we're warranted the emotional reaction due to someones unconscious annoyances. "We expect it to magically happen" - for them to realise their annoyances, how they're 'affecting' us, and to right their 'wrong'.
If someone is chewing with their mouth open, jiggling their foot and shaking your seat, tapping along to music out of rhythm, just ask them to be aware of it, and to refrain. Sinples

2023-10-13 13:49:47 UTC

I'm going to start daily posting an entry from The Daily Stoic - Meditation on Wisdom, Perseverance, and the art of Living. I hope to give myself a minute to contemplate, and hopefully have other peoples input.
https://i.imgur.com/opZyKJ9.png
October 13th
Revenge is a dish best not served.
"The best way to avenge yourself is to not be like that."
- Marcus Aurelius, Meditations, 6.6
"How much better to heal than seek revenge from injury. Vengeance wastes a lot of time and exposes you to many more injuries than the first that sparked it. Anger always outlasts hurt. Best to take the opposite course. Would anyone think it normal to return a kick to a mule or a bite to a dog?"
- Seneca, On Anger 3.27.2
A small anecdote.
A week or two ago I was doing a little work for a man we'll call M. M is a nice guy, but perhaps a little hot headed, definitely not afraid to speak his mind.
He runs a restaurant and he mentioned that he had a guy who he employed 'fuck him over' by using days of sick leave as holiday, and called him from across the other side of the world to let him know he wouldn't be in. It seemed last minute, as he was expected back in a few days later. M sacked the guy. The guy then tried to get an unfair dismissal claim, and won, taking several thousand of M's business' money.
M was pissed, and mentioned to me his plans to get into this guys head by sometime in the future 'knocking on his door and asking him how he is, how everything is going for him', with a look of semi derangement, and a big fake smile on his face.
I said, without thinking "An eye for an eye", and he immediately responded something along the lines of "When someone comes and tries to fuck over a good family man, trying to provide for his family and community, it's not an eye for an eye".
I would think that Marcus Aurelius and Seneca would think "Living the best life, and giving the most you have to offer to the people you love is revenge enough. Karma may respond to this guy in kind, and that's enough"
I've never been someone to want to get back at anyone to this point. I let go of the hatred towards my ex-stepfather many years ago. His health was never good. I knew he suffered, and I didn't have to.
Is what we're currently seeing in the world more of the same? Is everyone out for revenge? Is there any possibily of legitimate reconsciliation? Or is this it? Hatred, spite, vitriol, revenge, division? Or are the drivers pride, belief, honor?

2023-09-24 11:59:18 UTC

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Nothing more comforting and homely than a shed.

2023-05-04 12:26:51 UTC

Nostr profile picture now the same as twitter. Anyone recognize the character? https://nostr.build/i/nostr.build_d0fd28f01af7629a736b0d76ec9749bd3f412deec4456021f123b6e96d4cab3f.jpg

2023-04-29 07:25:39 UTC

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Morning (Evening) Capn, hope you have a great day!

2023-04-22 11:41:46 UTC

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Kid karnivore!

2023-04-18 20:17:20 UTC

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Ears and eyes!

2023-04-18 11:54:15 UTC

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I swear I didn't see this before. What the hell. My eyes are painted on.
https://nostr.build/i/nostr.build_42c3dddfaa7b70ac2694cea78b2f6216847ae0f8679373cf07f4e147f05e7f71.gif

2023-04-18 11:40:30 UTC

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He's jinxing it so he can buy sats under 30k again 🤣

2023-04-18 07:47:42 UTC

#[0]
Can anything be done about settings being remembered? When I reload the page, it reverts back to "real time". love you <3

2023-04-17 09:14:20 UTC

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7:13
#blessid
🙏

2023-04-12 12:21:13 UTC

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gm Derek. Hope your Thursday is amazing.

2023-04-12 12:07:36 UTC

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27 minutes and counting!

2023-04-12 12:06:24 UTC

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I would love to be a part of it!

2023-04-12 12:05:57 UTC

I love how simple this explanation is, and I think I finally get it. I had someone explain schnorr blind sig signing for a nostr account recently, and didn't realise it was basically the same as Chaumian E-cash.
We learnin' out here
https://twitter.com/rot13maxi/status/1549766946366840834

2023-04-12 09:47:13 UTC

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This IS my favourite band.

2023-04-12 08:18:30 UTC

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Unfortunately I feel like #[4] posts get buried for me, seems Im not scrollan' while the reports are being posted. Otherwise, definitely love that account.
And you're welcome. Maybe in a few years you can buy a whole cup of coffee!

2023-04-12 08:14:30 UTC

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Side note; It was something that was talked about a while ago, but I don't remember if it was something that was, could be or will be implemented within nostr. I'd love to have posts from my subs sent directly to my nostr DMs as a link, rather than an email, since I don't check my email often enough (rarely anything important). Is this something you might be able to look into? Or find out if someone else already has?

2023-04-12 08:10:20 UTC

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Followid, Subscribed, boostid, zappid

2023-04-12 08:06:58 UTC

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yo, that was awesome. Thanks for sharing.

2023-04-12 05:56:50 UTC

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Elon posts on twitter: 'X'
People who don't think he's a dog shit, shitcoining idiot:
https://i.imgur.com/irCb37M.gif

2023-04-12 05:54:52 UTC

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At least, that's my understanding of it.

2023-04-12 05:54:38 UTC

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Ecash 'mining' for small sat bounties. Not sure what to do if/when you manage to mine it though.

2023-04-12 05:11:31 UTC

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I had similar issues. Real bad population, showing a max of 5 notes from days earlier (or only notes I'd replied to). Then when I was watching a video it kept on jumping down as new notes were loaded. Turning off 'realtime' in settings helped that last one though.

2023-04-11 08:37:45 UTC

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What was the process that you followed? Which HWW?

2023-04-11 08:34:30 UTC

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Holy shit.
Makes me think of Metalocalypse style cartoon brutality.
Side note, #Iris needs to not jump the page down when it loads new notes. Put them in a "load new notes" button on the top of the page or something (Iris dev; Im using beta.iris.to) I had to scroll and find my position 4 times because it kept refreshing on me.