It’s Producing Something Good | 20 Inspiring Moments Of Stoicism

The regular person in us is frustrated by all this. But the Stoic in us knows that this is leading us, teaching us, shaping us. Seneca said that misfortune toughens us up , forges us the way that fire tests gold. Epictetus said that life pairs us with these sparring partners for a reason—to turn us into Olympic-class material. And the Book of Romans says that “suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope.” The hope is really our sense of our capacity. It’s the confidence that comes from being tested and passing that test. It’s knowing that we really can wrestle with the toughest stuff that life can throw at us. Pandemics, the whiplash of the market, extreme weather events, political unrest, personal disasters, tragedy, heartbreak. We’ve been through it. We’re still here. We’ve suffered and that suffering has produced character , character that gives us hope, gives us faith, gives us strength. The obstacles have been the way . They have produced something good. Something we can count on. Something we can believe in…our own capacity. P.S. “The impediment to action advances action,” Marcus Aurelius writes. “What stands in the way becomes…