“Am I going to die?” are harrowing words I pray no parent will ever be asked by their seven-year-old child. Hearing that question posed by my son William after the ER physician closed the door and told him, me and his mother “I don’t have good news” – I can easily say Feb 1st, 2025, has been the worst day of my and Naomi’s lives. I’ve written on the problem of evil and suffering as well as several famous Stoic... Read more
It’s a scary thought, Descartes’ challenge for truth seekers: “If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things.” This quote touches upon that having a spirit of critical thinking. Doubt towards established beliefs or dogma is necessary if one is truly seeking after truth. A spirit of doubt, however, is the only the start. When we do come around to something where... Read more
I love the Japanese concept of Ikigai. You may have come across in this popular figure from Héctor Garcia and Francesco Miralles’ book Ikigai: The Japanese Secret to a Long and Happy Life. They give a nice definition of Ikigai being the “happiness of always being busy” which is “like logotherapy, but it goes a step beyond.” It’s the place where purpose, meaning, and motivation are harmonized – a coherence of mind, body, and spirit – a flow state where... Read more
Epictetus drops the mic on the famous Stoic “dichotomy of control.” “The chief task in this life is simply this: to identify and separate matters so that I can clearly say to myself which are externals not under my control, and which have to do with the choices I actually control. Where then do I look for good and evil? Not to uncontrollable externals, but within myself to the choices that are my own.” This dichotomy of control is just... Read more
If you haven’t seen A League of Their Own, you need to. It’s based on the true circumstances of the All-American Girls Professional Baseball League (AAGPBL) that existed from 1943 to 1954. There is one very memorable scene when one of the players and team’s leaders plans to quit the team the moment her husband returns from the war – specifically right before the championship game. In a classic scene, he challenges her not with her life decision to move on... Read more
Theodore Roosevelt was highly influenced by Stoic philosophy. Difficult people and situations become an opportunity for development and character formation. Conversely, without adversity, we’re without that perspective that may have been on offer. In Roosevelt’s words: “Nothing in the world is worth having or worth doing unless it means effort, pain, difficulty… I have never in my life envied a human being who led an easy life. I have envied a great many people who led difficult lives and led... Read more
Lao Tzu is a famous Chinese philosopher and widely recognized as the founder of Taoism. In many of his writings, we see guidance on “The Way” and living in harmony and balance. The famous yin yang symbolizes the balance of interconnected opposites like light and dark, hot and cold, and order and chaos. His writings are often poetic. To say he has a way with words would be an understatement. Whether metaphysics, morality, or an overall life philosophy, Taoism deals with finding... Read more
Another one of my favorites from Nelson Mandela: “The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall” I love this sentiment which is a strong underlying theme in one of my all-time favorite movie scenes from Rocky Balboa who gives a timeless life lesson to his son: It ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward, how much you can take and... Read more
Lao Tzu has a great one on pride: “One who flaunts himself is not illuminated. One who insists that he is right is self-righteous. One who boasts of his accomplishments undoes his merit. One who takes pride in himself impedes his own growth.” The person who can’t stop bragging about their accomplishments is usually insecure; the person who is confident how smart they are is very likely quite uninformed. This smacks of the importance of Socrates’ epistemological humility found in... Read more
Socrates rocked us with “the unexamined life is not worth living”. But an examined life is far from an easy commitment; no one can really be a truth seeker without a sincere spirit of wonder. In Socrates’ words: “Wonder is the feeling of a philosopher, and philosophy begins in wonder.” A sincere spirit of wonder, however, requires humility and intersects with his famous “I know that I know nothing” (which is actually not directly stated by Socrates; it’s Plato’s interpretation... Read more
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