Yes, This Is How It Is | The Obstacle Is The Way

<p>Nearly every day was a terror. People died of easily curable diseases. People starved to death. People were clapped into slavery. Wars broke out–fought literally to the knife–where the losers were executed alongside civilian populations…their cities razed to the ground.</p><p>Seneca was exiled. Marcus Aurelius buried his own children. Epictetus was tortured, leaving him disabled for life. Yet somehow they wrote and spoke a philosophy that had within it, cheerfulness and love and lofty words about meaning and purpose. <a href="https://dailystoic.com/stoic-response-pain/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">How did they even get out of bed in the morning</a>, let alone smile?</p><p>---</p><p>And in today's excerpt from The Daily Stoic, Ryan delves into what the Stoics really mean by "The Obstacle Is The Way."</p><p>📘 Visit <a href="https://www.thepaintedporch.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">The Painted Porch</a> to check out <a href="https://www.thepaintedporch.com/products/inner-citadel-the-meditations-of-marcus-aurelius-revised" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Pierre Hadot's <em>The Inner Citadel</em></a>.</p><p>✉️ Sign up for the Daily Stoic email: <a href="http://dailystoic.com/dailyemail" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail</a></p><p>🏛 Check out the <a href="https://store.dailystoic.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Daily Stoic Store</a> for Stoic inspired products, signed books, and more.</p><p>📱 Follow us: <a href="https://www.instagram.com/dailystoic/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a>, <a href="https://twitter.com/dailystoic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Twitter</a>, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/dailystoic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">YouTube</a>, <a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@daily_stoic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TikTok</a>, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/dailystoic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook</a></p><p>See Pri