Stop Expecting This | Cultivate Indifference

About this episode

<p>At this point, you should have a pretty good understanding of human nature. That’s why we read history after all (and if you don’t, <a href="https://store.dailystoic.com/products/read-to-lead-2022" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">we suggest this reading challenge</a>). You’ve met people—you’ve seen what they do. People lie. People take the easy way out. People chase the wrong things.</p><p>Not always, not all people, but most people, most of the time.</p><p>Yet here you are, perpetually shocked and disappointed. Perpetually upset and resentful.</p><p><a href="https://dailystoic.com/cato/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Cato</a>, it was said by Cicero, seemed to forget that he didn’t live in Plato’s Republic but in the “dregs of Rome” (more on this in <a href="https://store.dailystoic.com/products/lives-of-the-stoics-signed-edition" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank"><em>Lives of the Stoics</em></a>). Cato seemed to be pretty regularly surprised that <a href="https://dailystoic.com/what-kind-of-ambition-to-have/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">everyone wasn’t as committed to virtue</a>, wasn’t as disciplined about that commitment as he was. There was even a saying that folks he was disappointed often said to excuse themselves: “We can’t all be Catos.”</p><p>One of the great lines from the Stoics was “not to expect figs in winter.” Cato could have done a better job of that. We could all do a better job at this. <a href="https://store.dailystoic.com/pages/101" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Most people have not even <em>heard</em> of Stoicism</a>, let alone committed to it. Most people just <a href="https://dailystoic.com/we-are-what-we-repeatedly-do/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">do what they want</a> in the moment, what’s easiest in the moment. Most people are not trying to live up to any kind of standard.</p><p>So why are we expecting them to be anything other than what they are? Why are we surprised or disappointed? We don’t have to relax our standards but we can certainly lower our expectations.</p><br><p>✉️<strong>&nbsp;Sign up for the Daily Stoic email:&nbsp;</strong><a href="http://dailystoic.com/dailyemail" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">https://dailystoic.com/dailyemail</a></p><p>🏛 Check out the&nbsp;<a href="https://store.dailystoic.com/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Daily Stoic Store</a>&nbsp;for Stoic inspired products, signed books, and more.</p><p>📱 Follow us:&nbsp;<a href="https://www.instagram.com/dailystoic/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Instagram</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://twitter.com/dailystoic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Twitter</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.youtube.com/dailystoic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">YouTube</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.tiktok.com/@daily_stoic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">TikTok</a>,&nbsp;<a href="https://www.facebook.com/dailystoic" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Facebook</a></p><hr><p style='color:grey; font-size:0.75em;'> Hosted on Acast. See <a style='color:grey;' target='_blank' rel='noopener noreferrer' href='https://acast.com/privacy'>acast.com/privacy</a> for more information.</p>