The People We Deal With
Once while Hadrian walked in the woods of a foreign country, a slave of his host ran out at him with a sword. He grabbed the man and took hold of him while he waited for the attendants who came to his aid. When it was established that the man was deranged, Hadrian asked that he be turned over to doctors and treated. And so the incident ended without the slightest agitation.
This is how we could all respond to the people who come at us. The passive aggressive rivals or snippy family members or bad friends. Hand them back over to their kind before anyone is harmed and move on. Understand that they are ill in their own way and only acting out the symptoms of their affliction, whatever it may be.
Soon enough, like Hadrian’s example, the reality of the threat will dissipate and all that will be left is the anecdote. If you can view it like that always, then there is no reason to be upset or shocked or rattled.
I remember during my first week in Morocco, I was sitting on a bench and watched a guy get hit by a car. He got up uninjured and dusted himself off. The driver waved an apology to the guy, who waved his acknowledgement back. The pedestrian continued walking on his way and the two never said a word to each other.
That moment really stuck with me as an example of the way we can react to those kinds of situations. Get riled up over what might have happened, or accept and let go.
I think you need to go back to school. Like get a graduate degree in philosophy or the classics, so that you can realize that there’s more to writing than stringing anecdotes together with a tidy little concluding sentence. No offense…
Ha, the above is maybe the most fitting comment possible for this post.
I only check this place out once in a while now, and I agree, it is getting repetitive. Don’t you think about anything other than stoicism?
Don’t mean to offend, two years ago this was my favorite blog hands down on RM…
If you think Ryan needs to go back to school, you clearly haven’t been reading very long, or have any idea what he’s doing with his life. I hope I’m as successful at 40 as this kid is at 22. You should be so lucky too.
I wrote the “go back to school” message, and while I think that’s still true, I also think he needs to write about his personal life more than never, or else this blog will continue to get hella stale.
Or, you know, there’s more to LIFE than writing correctly or eloquently. Getting a degree in Philosophy could potentially turn you into the most boring person alive. Besides, as is the case with Ryan, you can seemingly learn all that without paying $60k for the education.
Tell me, if you thought something was very important, would you only comment on it for a few posts? Or would it take you time to develop and incorporate said philosophy? If you imply you can learn and incorporate something as difficult as being stoic in no time at all, then you’re either lying, or well, lying.
Being successful in life and writing an interesting blog are two mutually exclusive things. Well, there is some connection, but one does not necessarily mean the other.
Therefore, anonymous above, you make as much sense as the lyrics to ‘Somebody Told Me’ by the Killers.
I want to hear a stoics take on American Apparel, Robert Greene, and Tucker Max.
Ryan, you’re a hustler, tell your story.
The very act of asking about a bunch of shit that doesn’t matter so you can live vicariously through someone more successful than yourself reveals a profound lack of understanding of stoicism. Maybe this blog isn’t for you.
To bad this isn’t the Idiot board, because you would be red-dotted back to your blueberry farm.
Reminds me of something I highlighted in 50th Law…
“…dont pay attention to people’s good or bad intentions. They dont matter.”
and
“…understand that everyone is after power, and that we all occassionally manipulate and even deceive. That is human nature and there is no shame in it. You dont take people’s maneuvers personally….”