🌳 The Counterintuitive Power of Loving What Is

💭 Quote of the Week

That moment when your product launch gets delayed by a month, your promotion goes to someone else, or your partner says "we need to talk." Your mind does exactly what everyone's mind does: "This can't be happening. This shouldn't be happening."

But what if fighting against reality is exactly what's keeping you stuck?

The Stoics had a counterintuitive approach to life's punches that sounds completely insane at first. But it might just change how you handle every challenge from here on out...

💡 Stoic Lesson of The Week

The Stoics had a practice called amor fati (love of one’s fate) that would make most therapists cringe. When life punches you in the face, stop fighting back. Don’t just accept it. Don’t just deal with it. Actually love it.

Here's why this isn't crazy: The energy you spend resisting reality is energy you could spend reshaping it.

Think about the last time you got blindsided by bad news. How much mental energy did you waste wishing it hadn't happened? Now imagine if you'd redirected that energy into dealing with it instead.

This isn't about pretending everything's great. It's about stopping the exhausting fight against what already is.

Because reality doesn't negotiate - but it does respond to how you engage with it.

🎯 Your Action Plan

Next time reality throws you a curveball, try this 3-step reset:

1. Catch yourself fighting reality ("This shouldn't be happening!")

2. Say: "This is happening whether I accept it or not"

3. Ask: "Since this is happening anyway, what's my next move?"

Try This Now: Think of something bugging you right now. Notice how much energy you're spending wishing it away. What could you do with that energy instead?

Pro Move: Channel your inner Jocko Willink and say "Good" when something challenging happens. It feels weird at first, but it immediately shifts your brain from problem to possibility.

📖 Story Time

Imagine being born a slave with a crippled leg in ancient Rome. Every morning, you wake up in chains. Every day, someone else decides what you'll do, where you'll go, what you'll eat.

This was Epictetus's life. But instead of burning energy fighting his reality, he did something radical: He accepted his fate—rather he loved it—instead of being shackled by it.

While other philosophers wrote fancy theories about resilience, Epictetus lived the ultimate experiment: Could true freedom exist in actual chains? His answer became so powerful that even the Emperor of Rome would study his teachings.

The lesson wasn't "everything happens for a reason." It was simpler: Everything happens. And life transforms the moment you learn to love what is.

🤔 Takeaway

Fighting reality is like punching water - you just tire yourself out. Your power isn't in resisting what happens, but in how you choose to respond.

Your Challenge: The next time something "goes wrong," try this experiment:

1. Say "Good" out loud (yes, actually say it)

2. Get curious: "Why might this challenge be exactly what I need?"

3. Focus on your next move instead of your frustration

🔗 Worth Your Time

Recommended reads to dive deeper and some of my favorite content I found on the internet this week...

• Amor Fati: The Immense Power of Learning To Love Your Fate (Daily Stoic)

• The Power of "Good" (Jocko Willink)

• Adding Not Subtracting: What Leaving 90% of Our Things Behind Taught Me About Life (Deb Liu)