1 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:09,350 Well, Hey everybody, Jonathan Doyle with you. 2 00:00:09,350 --> 00:00:11,510 Once again, welcome back to the daily podcast. 3 00:00:11,510 --> 00:00:14,270 Great to have you with me, please make sure you've subscribed. 4 00:00:14,570 --> 00:00:17,420 Hit that big subscribe button and, uh, make sure you check out all the 5 00:00:17,420 --> 00:00:20,570 show notes because we have the link across to the YouTube versions. 6 00:00:20,960 --> 00:00:23,420 You can get free access to my book, bridging the gap. 7 00:00:23,420 --> 00:00:24,380 You can book me to speak. 8 00:00:24,380 --> 00:00:25,520 It is all there. 9 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:27,320 My friends, it is all there. 10 00:00:27,710 --> 00:00:29,930 So, uh, please check out those show notes. 11 00:00:29,930 --> 00:00:32,240 If you want to get in touch, give me some feedback or let me know a 12 00:00:32,240 --> 00:00:33,800 topic that you'd like me to cover. 13 00:00:34,280 --> 00:00:34,790 Today. 14 00:00:35,090 --> 00:00:40,669 We're going to jump into, uh, some stoic and Epicurean philosophy in just a moment. 15 00:00:40,669 --> 00:00:44,629 But I want to, I always try and look for things throughout the day that have been. 16 00:00:45,230 --> 00:00:48,410 Uh, you know, interesting and useful that I can share with you guys. 17 00:00:48,830 --> 00:00:52,010 You know, it's really on my heart in so many recent episodes to keep talking 18 00:00:52,010 --> 00:00:53,930 about the importance of movement. 19 00:00:54,410 --> 00:00:58,279 Uh, we tend to be a very Very civilization at the moment. 20 00:00:58,279 --> 00:01:02,660 And one of the best ways to just increase your energy, your mental clarity 21 00:01:02,660 --> 00:01:04,940 is just literal physical movement. 22 00:01:05,419 --> 00:01:08,990 Um, I'm actually having a rest day today, which is a bit different for me. 23 00:01:09,199 --> 00:01:11,990 Uh, I've been pushing it pretty hard the last few weeks with a lot of long 24 00:01:11,990 --> 00:01:13,310 distance training, a lot of work. 25 00:01:13,699 --> 00:01:14,990 So, uh, today's a day off. 26 00:01:15,020 --> 00:01:16,669 It's a Sunday in the studio. 27 00:01:16,699 --> 00:01:19,460 And, uh, today I'm just going to kick back, relax a little bit. 28 00:01:19,880 --> 00:01:24,289 And, uh, enjoy family and a little bit of rest, so I can rip back into it tomorrow, 29 00:01:24,289 --> 00:01:26,210 but movement my friends movement. 30 00:01:26,720 --> 00:01:29,210 As I've said in recent weeks, whether it means that you 31 00:01:29,210 --> 00:01:30,829 start walking to the letterbox. 32 00:01:31,190 --> 00:01:34,970 Or you start running ultra marathons as I do whatever it is. 33 00:01:35,690 --> 00:01:39,199 I cannot express to you enough, just that we are designed to move. 34 00:01:39,199 --> 00:01:40,789 The cosmos is in motion. 35 00:01:41,389 --> 00:01:42,949 And we are part of that one. 36 00:01:42,949 --> 00:01:44,030 Great cosmos. 37 00:01:44,030 --> 00:01:47,300 So I just want to offer that to you regularly just to say, Hey. 38 00:01:47,900 --> 00:01:51,979 The more that you can do to be active and engaged, the more, the quality 39 00:01:51,979 --> 00:01:54,079 of your life will improve over time. 40 00:01:54,079 --> 00:01:59,240 I think I said yesterday that when I had my accident back in 2019, I think 41 00:01:59,240 --> 00:02:00,859 it was about the fourth day in hospital. 42 00:02:01,280 --> 00:02:03,380 When I could, uh, I could stand up again. 43 00:02:04,130 --> 00:02:07,789 I started doing laps of the hospital ward and tracking my times. 44 00:02:08,120 --> 00:02:11,600 I had a drip in my arm, but I was really keen just to get moving 45 00:02:11,600 --> 00:02:13,040 again, just to get my body moving. 46 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:17,120 And, um, it was, uh, just a little insight into my relatively obsessive 47 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:18,710 personality, but listen, let's get moving. 48 00:02:18,740 --> 00:02:19,790 I hope that's useful to you. 49 00:02:20,060 --> 00:02:22,460 The other thing I wanted to share from today was, um, I 50 00:02:22,460 --> 00:02:23,960 was up super early as usual. 51 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:25,760 And, uh, jumped in the car. 52 00:02:26,480 --> 00:02:29,960 To go and get some petrol, some gas from my American listeners. 53 00:02:30,560 --> 00:02:31,910 And I was in a really good mood. 54 00:02:31,910 --> 00:02:33,890 It was like, I don't know, 5:00 AM or something. 55 00:02:33,890 --> 00:02:37,880 And, um, it was slightly less freezing than usual. 56 00:02:37,880 --> 00:02:41,990 And I get down to the petrol station and put the petrol in and. 57 00:02:42,680 --> 00:02:46,190 I just think I was just radiating some positive vibes. 58 00:02:46,190 --> 00:02:47,990 I kind of just felt really good about the world. 59 00:02:47,990 --> 00:02:50,990 And I walked in there and you know, the guys working behind the 60 00:02:50,990 --> 00:02:52,520 county's been there all night and. 61 00:02:53,180 --> 00:02:55,460 He just seemed really friendly. 62 00:02:55,460 --> 00:02:58,700 And we had this little quick conversation, which was really positive and, uh, 63 00:02:59,330 --> 00:03:01,010 which is unusual because normally. 64 00:03:01,670 --> 00:03:03,740 These poor guys have been working all through the night and they're 65 00:03:03,770 --> 00:03:07,460 often a bit non-committal, but we had a quick positive conversation. 66 00:03:07,940 --> 00:03:11,240 And as I walk out back to my car, there's this big dude there, a big 67 00:03:11,300 --> 00:03:14,090 kind of working class guy looks like he's seen a fair bit of life. 68 00:03:14,690 --> 00:03:17,450 And walk towards me and we kind of just sort of smiled 69 00:03:17,450 --> 00:03:18,500 and acknowledged each other. 70 00:03:18,500 --> 00:03:20,900 And now I know you're listening to this thing and Jonathan, this is not profound. 71 00:03:20,930 --> 00:03:22,370 Like this is this today's message. 72 00:03:22,430 --> 00:03:22,610 No. 73 00:03:23,390 --> 00:03:26,330 But it struck me that if we tend to put out. 74 00:03:26,870 --> 00:03:32,240 Um, a sense of positivity and acceptance and kindness towards people. 75 00:03:33,020 --> 00:03:35,300 So much of the time it tends to get radiated back. 76 00:03:35,330 --> 00:03:39,320 It's not always, I know that there is the occasional office psychopath, but I 77 00:03:39,320 --> 00:03:41,180 think it's just worth being conscious of. 78 00:03:41,720 --> 00:03:44,120 What we are putting out there into the world. 79 00:03:44,180 --> 00:03:48,080 Uh, and as much as it depends upon us in cooperating with grace, I think 80 00:03:48,080 --> 00:03:50,420 just choosing deliberately choosing. 81 00:03:50,930 --> 00:03:56,360 To have a positive disposition towards reality itself and towards the people that 82 00:03:56,360 --> 00:03:57,890 we encounter can make a big difference. 83 00:03:57,890 --> 00:04:00,320 So friends, two things quickly in this podcast movement. 84 00:04:01,010 --> 00:04:05,240 And a radiating positivity towards the people around you and always going to do 85 00:04:05,240 --> 00:04:06,830 a perfectly, we're going to have off days. 86 00:04:07,190 --> 00:04:08,960 But I just want to offer you that to you guys. 87 00:04:08,960 --> 00:04:10,010 And just something to think about. 88 00:04:10,010 --> 00:04:12,560 Just one more idea, just to file away as you go throughout 89 00:04:12,560 --> 00:04:14,000 your day, night, evening. 90 00:04:14,480 --> 00:04:16,670 Just bring a little more. 91 00:04:17,630 --> 00:04:21,740 I don't know, radiation of joy into the cosmos, because it 92 00:04:21,740 --> 00:04:23,240 certainly is a challenging time. 93 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:26,210 If you've made that awful mistake of turning on mainstream media or 94 00:04:26,210 --> 00:04:27,830 looking at too much social media. 95 00:04:28,340 --> 00:04:29,270 You will be convinced. 96 00:04:29,270 --> 00:04:32,510 Otherwise you'll be convinced that it's all going to hell in a hand basket. 97 00:04:32,510 --> 00:04:35,660 As people used to say, But friends, it is still a beautiful world. 98 00:04:35,660 --> 00:04:36,590 Is that great poem? 99 00:04:36,590 --> 00:04:38,060 The decider art I found in St. 100 00:04:38,060 --> 00:04:41,930 Paul's church in Baltimore, in the 16th century beautifully said. 101 00:04:42,500 --> 00:04:45,800 You know, it is still a beautiful world, you know, it's still a beautiful world. 102 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:47,210 There's still so much goodness out there. 103 00:04:47,210 --> 00:04:47,390 This. 104 00:04:47,690 --> 00:04:50,510 So many wonderful people trying to do good things. 105 00:04:50,510 --> 00:04:51,830 So be encouraged today. 106 00:04:52,310 --> 00:04:55,310 We're going to start a little bit of a journey with a, I got a new translation 107 00:04:55,310 --> 00:04:58,730 of, uh, emperor Marcus meditations. 108 00:04:59,150 --> 00:05:01,370 One of the great figures of stoic philosophy and a really 109 00:05:01,400 --> 00:05:03,260 fascinating figure of history. 110 00:05:03,590 --> 00:05:04,790 If you're not familiar with Marcarelli. 111 00:05:06,470 --> 00:05:07,670 you will recognize him. 112 00:05:08,120 --> 00:05:11,360 Um, as the emperor in the movie, gladiator, before 113 00:05:11,360 --> 00:05:12,380 the bad emperor came along. 114 00:05:12,890 --> 00:05:16,100 Everyone's uh, but, uh, the more scholarly of my listeners will, 115 00:05:16,100 --> 00:05:17,420 of course know that he was a. 116 00:05:18,140 --> 00:05:19,490 Uh, an, an emperor. 117 00:05:20,150 --> 00:05:22,970 Uh, in the decline of the Roman empire really is in the sort 118 00:05:23,000 --> 00:05:24,380 of later in the first century. 119 00:05:24,380 --> 00:05:25,490 And of course, 120 00:05:25,550 --> 00:05:26,630 Um, there is. 121 00:05:26,990 --> 00:05:30,380 Gradual decline due to the overextension of the empire and. 122 00:05:31,100 --> 00:05:33,290 Look, I could refer ages on Marcus Aurelius. 123 00:05:33,470 --> 00:05:36,410 I want to talk about him in, in a lot of future episodes. 124 00:05:36,410 --> 00:05:38,120 I'm just going to pick a little bit of stuff each day. 125 00:05:38,660 --> 00:05:41,810 Why because he was part of a tradition. 126 00:05:42,500 --> 00:05:42,920 Of. 127 00:05:43,910 --> 00:05:48,140 Thinking very deeply about the nature of reality, how to cooperate with reality and 128 00:05:48,140 --> 00:05:51,200 how to live appropriately, how to live. 129 00:05:51,230 --> 00:05:55,400 Well, I think we're in a, a cultural moment of excess 130 00:05:55,430 --> 00:05:58,490 and, um, and cultural decline. 131 00:05:59,000 --> 00:06:02,150 And, you know, there's nothing new under the sun, right? 132 00:06:02,150 --> 00:06:04,910 Men and women for thousands of years have been living. 133 00:06:05,390 --> 00:06:09,620 Well, and heroically and, and obviously not everybody, but we have 134 00:06:09,620 --> 00:06:12,890 this great tradition in the west, particularly that we can draw upon. 135 00:06:12,920 --> 00:06:14,510 That's very much worth drawing upon. 136 00:06:15,260 --> 00:06:16,580 I was talking to my son today. 137 00:06:16,580 --> 00:06:19,040 We went to church this morning, we're driving back and we often have 138 00:06:19,040 --> 00:06:20,300 these really great conversations. 139 00:06:20,300 --> 00:06:21,020 He's 12. 140 00:06:21,530 --> 00:06:26,060 And as you do with your 12 year old, we were talking about, um, the American 141 00:06:26,090 --> 00:06:30,710 revolutionary war and the thoughts of the first us president George Washington 142 00:06:30,710 --> 00:06:33,080 on the nature of moral people as you do. 143 00:06:33,500 --> 00:06:33,890 And. 144 00:06:34,460 --> 00:06:37,490 I was sort of saying to him, you know, that when one of the great comments 145 00:06:37,490 --> 00:06:40,490 that, uh, George Washington made after the revolutionary war, after 146 00:06:40,490 --> 00:06:41,930 the declaration of independence, 147 00:06:42,650 --> 00:06:46,100 He made the point that the project that they were undertaking 148 00:06:46,100 --> 00:06:49,490 the form of governance that the constitution delineated. 149 00:06:50,060 --> 00:06:53,060 Was a form of government that George Washington said very 150 00:06:53,060 --> 00:06:56,540 specifically could only function for a moral and virtuous people. 151 00:06:57,230 --> 00:07:02,090 So he sort of felt that if the society became it'll begin to lack morality 152 00:07:02,090 --> 00:07:06,710 and virtue, then it would become tyrannical and it would collapse. 153 00:07:07,040 --> 00:07:10,010 So that was said way back at the birth of the American project or the 154 00:07:10,010 --> 00:07:12,020 American governmental project, at least. 155 00:07:12,500 --> 00:07:14,270 And I just think we're in that. 156 00:07:14,270 --> 00:07:16,580 And I think that we are in a moment of. 157 00:07:18,050 --> 00:07:23,510 An obsession with self and obsession with personal ends and goals are 158 00:07:23,510 --> 00:07:25,130 utilitarian moment yesterday. 159 00:07:25,130 --> 00:07:26,420 I talked a lot about nihilism. 160 00:07:26,870 --> 00:07:29,960 So, what has this got to do with you and our daily podcast? 161 00:07:29,990 --> 00:07:31,790 We're going to go back to some of the great thinkers. 162 00:07:32,510 --> 00:07:34,430 We're going to go back to the people that can help us. 163 00:07:34,760 --> 00:07:36,980 Think consistently about how to live well. 164 00:07:37,340 --> 00:07:39,140 And I was thinking before I came in this Julio. 165 00:07:39,560 --> 00:07:42,320 You know, I do this every day, you know, and there's times when 166 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:45,530 I'm tired and I'm like, why am I doing this every single day? 167 00:07:45,560 --> 00:07:47,240 Am I, am I holding myself to account? 168 00:07:47,600 --> 00:07:48,290 Or a bunch of reasons? 169 00:07:48,290 --> 00:07:51,230 One is, I want to show you guys that you can hold yourself to 170 00:07:51,230 --> 00:07:54,050 account and stay committed to things that you believe are important. 171 00:07:54,050 --> 00:07:55,790 It's an important thing for Saul to remember. 172 00:07:56,240 --> 00:07:58,460 And secondly friends I'm doing this because I need to teach 173 00:07:58,460 --> 00:08:00,920 it to myself every single day. 174 00:08:01,190 --> 00:08:03,260 I need daily, constant reminders. 175 00:08:03,650 --> 00:08:05,240 Um, to keep moving forward. 176 00:08:05,240 --> 00:08:08,300 So today we're going to jump into a first part of Marcus. 177 00:08:08,300 --> 00:08:11,120 Aurelius has meditations where he's literally just writing down. 178 00:08:11,930 --> 00:08:14,210 What he has learned from the significant people life. 179 00:08:14,210 --> 00:08:17,450 He goes back to his grandfather, his great-grandfather, his father, his mother. 180 00:08:18,080 --> 00:08:20,480 But I want to take you to paragraph seven, where he talks about what 181 00:08:20,480 --> 00:08:24,410 he learned from a friend of his called rusticness great name. 182 00:08:25,190 --> 00:08:26,570 I liked that name, Russ stickers. 183 00:08:27,320 --> 00:08:27,800 It's like, where are you going? 184 00:08:27,830 --> 00:08:28,340 I've got a rustic. 185 00:08:28,370 --> 00:08:29,060 This is house mom. 186 00:08:29,090 --> 00:08:29,840 Be back soon. 187 00:08:30,590 --> 00:08:31,490 Don't stay out late. 188 00:08:31,820 --> 00:08:33,110 It's like I'm on the emperor in training. 189 00:08:33,140 --> 00:08:34,939 I can stay out as long as I want now. 190 00:08:35,449 --> 00:08:36,470 What did he learn from Rustica? 191 00:08:36,559 --> 00:08:37,189 Paragraph seven? 192 00:08:37,220 --> 00:08:39,230 Listen to this very beautifully, says the recognition. 193 00:08:39,860 --> 00:08:40,640 That I needed. 194 00:08:41,150 --> 00:08:41,960 To train. 195 00:08:42,560 --> 00:08:43,610 And discipline. 196 00:08:44,090 --> 00:08:44,930 My character. 197 00:08:45,620 --> 00:08:49,490 The recognition that I needed to train and discipline my character. 198 00:08:49,730 --> 00:08:51,650 So why did I shit want to share this with you today? 199 00:08:51,650 --> 00:08:52,550 Because I think it's so. 200 00:08:53,030 --> 00:08:58,190 Uh, possible it's it's so likely in this current cultural moment. 201 00:08:58,790 --> 00:09:00,410 That life happens to us. 202 00:09:00,980 --> 00:09:03,440 There is so much distraction, so much consumption. 203 00:09:03,440 --> 00:09:05,060 We out homo economics. 204 00:09:05,300 --> 00:09:07,760 We, you know, I was talking to Aiden in the car, as I 205 00:09:07,760 --> 00:09:08,750 said, coming back from church. 206 00:09:08,750 --> 00:09:13,070 And I'm like I said, mate, so many people, I said their, their lives in the absence 207 00:09:13,070 --> 00:09:17,600 of a, of a deeper divine, spiritual sense of meaning and the purpose of their lives. 208 00:09:17,630 --> 00:09:18,290 I said, humans. 209 00:09:19,040 --> 00:09:22,010 Profoundly spiritual creatures, even raving atheists to 210 00:09:22,040 --> 00:09:23,420 profoundly spiritual creatures. 211 00:09:23,420 --> 00:09:23,660 Why? 212 00:09:23,660 --> 00:09:27,590 Because in Latin, we refer to, what's known as CapEx day, that which has 213 00:09:27,590 --> 00:09:30,680 the capacity for God, that which has the capacity for the divine. 214 00:09:30,950 --> 00:09:31,940 So you can bury that. 215 00:09:31,940 --> 00:09:36,350 You can ignore it, you can gloss it over, but that deep religious impulse is 216 00:09:36,410 --> 00:09:38,780 utterly essential to the human experience. 217 00:09:38,780 --> 00:09:41,720 It has been for from the Dawn of civilization. 218 00:09:42,230 --> 00:09:46,040 Even in prehistory, we were a deeply, you know, we were obsessed with 219 00:09:46,040 --> 00:09:50,090 the cosmos, the stars, the movement of the world, the natural world. 220 00:09:50,450 --> 00:09:54,350 We had this deep sort of mystical spiritual sense. 221 00:09:54,380 --> 00:09:55,430 And my point here. 222 00:09:55,760 --> 00:09:59,990 Is it in the absence of the practice of organized religion that hasn't gone away? 223 00:09:59,990 --> 00:10:00,800 What's happened. 224 00:10:01,250 --> 00:10:05,750 Is that it has been veneered over with immediacy, with pleasure, with 225 00:10:05,750 --> 00:10:08,330 comfort, with security and safety ism. 226 00:10:08,330 --> 00:10:09,680 As the last few years have taught us. 227 00:10:10,220 --> 00:10:12,980 But I said to Aiden, I said so many people, their life is nothing other 228 00:10:12,980 --> 00:10:17,240 than the accumulation of staff and, and trying to protect their future. 229 00:10:17,240 --> 00:10:18,830 And it was interesting because at church today, 230 00:10:19,310 --> 00:10:22,280 You know, father made the point where he said, you know, Uh, he 231 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:25,700 was caught out late, uh, on Friday night to, for a hospital visit. 232 00:10:25,700 --> 00:10:29,540 Somebody had tragically died with no warning, just completely unexpected. 233 00:10:29,540 --> 00:10:30,170 And he said that. 234 00:10:30,620 --> 00:10:33,980 You know, Uh, that, uh, he was just shocked. 235 00:10:34,010 --> 00:10:36,920 It was quite stunned with consoling the family. 236 00:10:37,370 --> 00:10:40,970 That life can just go and change so rapidly that we all assume 237 00:10:40,970 --> 00:10:41,990 that we're going to live forever. 238 00:10:42,020 --> 00:10:45,620 We're going to die in comfort in our old age, surrounded by loved 239 00:10:45,620 --> 00:10:47,180 ones while people play violins. 240 00:10:47,180 --> 00:10:48,890 But friends, that's not what actually happens. 241 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:50,330 Life is fragile. 242 00:10:50,360 --> 00:10:52,070 It can be taken from a set of heartbeat. 243 00:10:52,130 --> 00:10:54,740 As I learned back in the accident in 2019. 244 00:10:55,250 --> 00:10:56,990 What's my point is that. 245 00:10:57,080 --> 00:11:01,880 We've lost track of the deeper purposes and meanings of existence 246 00:11:01,880 --> 00:11:06,020 and the magnificence of our creation and the potential that we carry. 247 00:11:06,500 --> 00:11:10,820 And so many of us are living our life on a daily basis in a highly distracted 248 00:11:10,820 --> 00:11:13,550 and consumptive mode that we consume. 249 00:11:13,550 --> 00:11:17,480 And we were obsessed with financial success and financial accumulation. 250 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:18,320 These are a good things. 251 00:11:18,320 --> 00:11:19,400 These are not bad things. 252 00:11:19,400 --> 00:11:20,390 They have their place. 253 00:11:21,080 --> 00:11:24,290 But what I'm getting at here in Marcus Aurelius, as he's calling us back 254 00:11:24,290 --> 00:11:26,750 to a, to a deeper level of living. 255 00:11:26,750 --> 00:11:30,410 So my point is that when we're surrounded by so much comfort, when 256 00:11:30,410 --> 00:11:35,570 we're surrounded by so much, Distraction that I, life can just become automatic. 257 00:11:35,780 --> 00:11:36,530 Did you ever do this? 258 00:11:36,530 --> 00:11:37,190 Do you wake up? 259 00:11:37,190 --> 00:11:41,060 And we were highly habitual creatures, you know, I used to wake up and I'd get 260 00:11:41,060 --> 00:11:44,930 my, I had my coffee machine on, but I'd be reading social media and reading news 261 00:11:44,930 --> 00:11:47,060 websites and blowing an hour apart there. 262 00:11:47,060 --> 00:11:47,390 And then. 263 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:50,780 Wandering through the day, sometimes doing a bit of this bit of that, 264 00:11:50,780 --> 00:11:51,890 but really the day would end. 265 00:11:51,920 --> 00:11:53,000 I'd be like, what did I do? 266 00:11:53,420 --> 00:11:55,490 So, this is why this paragraph is so important. 267 00:11:55,700 --> 00:12:00,050 Um, paragraph seven of the first book of Marcus Aurelius has meditation's listen. 268 00:12:00,050 --> 00:12:05,780 He says the recognition that I needed to train and discipline my character. 269 00:12:05,780 --> 00:12:06,590 What is that character? 270 00:12:06,620 --> 00:12:07,610 What is your character? 271 00:12:07,910 --> 00:12:10,370 I used to teach this all the time in seminars, character. 272 00:12:10,910 --> 00:12:12,080 Actually comes. 273 00:12:12,080 --> 00:12:15,200 We first hear about it in middle English, back in about the 15th 274 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:18,080 century, maybe earlier it was, uh, it's. 275 00:12:18,080 --> 00:12:22,970 It comes from, um, I don't remember the exact translation, but it means a mark 276 00:12:23,000 --> 00:12:28,580 or an indelible mark upon the soul, like a tattoo upon our very spiritual core. 277 00:12:29,120 --> 00:12:33,080 And our character is nothing other than the sum total of our 278 00:12:33,170 --> 00:12:34,820 choices, decisions, and actions. 279 00:12:34,820 --> 00:12:35,060 Right. 280 00:12:35,390 --> 00:12:35,960 So think about it. 281 00:12:35,960 --> 00:12:38,540 If you steal all the time, you become a thief. 282 00:12:38,570 --> 00:12:42,500 This is what Dostoevsky was getting at in, um, crime and punishment. 283 00:12:42,860 --> 00:12:46,880 That once we move from contemplation or something to actually doing something, we 284 00:12:46,880 --> 00:12:48,890 eventually become what we repeatedly do. 285 00:12:49,550 --> 00:12:51,620 If we do lots of exercise and training and take care of our 286 00:12:51,620 --> 00:12:52,790 health, we become healthy. 287 00:12:53,300 --> 00:12:56,720 If we eat terribly and do no exercise, we become something different. 288 00:12:57,050 --> 00:13:01,220 If we speak the truth, as often as we can courageously, we become honest. 289 00:13:01,730 --> 00:13:03,770 If we don't, we become liars. 290 00:13:04,070 --> 00:13:06,530 So you see that even in the ancient world, they understood 291 00:13:06,530 --> 00:13:08,450 this profound meaning of character. 292 00:13:08,450 --> 00:13:12,110 Then what we do on a daily basis really, really matters. 293 00:13:12,800 --> 00:13:16,070 And what I'm convinced of is this is actually really hard because it's hard. 294 00:13:16,100 --> 00:13:19,370 Like it's, I find it incredibly hard to live with character day 295 00:13:19,370 --> 00:13:21,440 after day and to keep working at it. 296 00:13:21,470 --> 00:13:24,980 But what has learned from his friend rustic as here is 297 00:13:25,070 --> 00:13:26,180 his eyes have been opened. 298 00:13:26,180 --> 00:13:29,720 He has realized my friends that he has to train. 299 00:13:30,080 --> 00:13:31,970 And discipline his character. 300 00:13:32,180 --> 00:13:35,480 You know, imagine if you've got some kind of, you know, a great big dog though. 301 00:13:35,480 --> 00:13:39,410 You've got a puppy and, uh, but it was one of those huge, big Ridgeback things or 302 00:13:39,410 --> 00:13:44,270 some kind of Malamute or German shepherd, and you never train this thing, right. 303 00:13:44,270 --> 00:13:45,800 Or a pit bull, you never trained it. 304 00:13:45,830 --> 00:13:47,390 It just kind of wanders around the house. 305 00:13:47,420 --> 00:13:51,080 Does whatever it wants does, you know, never gets any kind of training. 306 00:13:51,740 --> 00:13:54,920 This thing eventually has a good chance of going off the reservation. 307 00:13:54,920 --> 00:13:55,310 Doesn't it? 308 00:13:55,310 --> 00:13:58,430 I mean, this thing eventually has a chance of doing what reverting. 309 00:13:59,360 --> 00:14:03,500 To it's animal nature to doing things that you may not like, because 310 00:14:03,500 --> 00:14:06,380 that's its nature because it's never been trained or discipline. 311 00:14:07,100 --> 00:14:10,070 And Marcus earlier series telling us that we have this in us. 312 00:14:10,070 --> 00:14:10,640 We have this. 313 00:14:11,150 --> 00:14:12,920 Untamed unrestrained, ASCA. 314 00:14:13,220 --> 00:14:17,120 Personalities that if we don't tame them and discipline and train them over time. 315 00:14:17,870 --> 00:14:21,500 They're going to be problematic for us and our character will fall apart. 316 00:14:21,500 --> 00:14:21,890 Friends. 317 00:14:21,890 --> 00:14:24,830 Turn your attention for just a second to the political landscape. 318 00:14:24,830 --> 00:14:25,610 What do you see? 319 00:14:25,880 --> 00:14:26,810 I see two problems. 320 00:14:26,810 --> 00:14:27,110 I see. 321 00:14:27,110 --> 00:14:27,740 Firstly. 322 00:14:28,220 --> 00:14:30,410 Uh, an obsession with save your ideology. 323 00:14:30,410 --> 00:14:34,730 I see, uh, a belief that we are looking for a man or a woman constantly to save 324 00:14:34,730 --> 00:14:36,560 us to be different to the other ones. 325 00:14:36,980 --> 00:14:40,460 I would like that to be the case, but I'm a realist of what it means to be human. 326 00:14:40,910 --> 00:14:41,960 We are angels we're in. 327 00:14:41,960 --> 00:14:42,620 Perfect. 328 00:14:42,860 --> 00:14:43,730 We'll do good things. 329 00:14:43,730 --> 00:14:44,990 We'll do problematic things. 330 00:14:45,320 --> 00:14:47,180 So, you know, I think that's a problem. 331 00:14:47,210 --> 00:14:49,370 And I also think we have this problem with character. 332 00:14:50,120 --> 00:14:53,690 We have this constant problem of character in, in our institutions, 333 00:14:53,690 --> 00:14:55,670 in politics and civic, civic life. 334 00:14:55,700 --> 00:14:57,920 Am I putting myself up here is perfect. 335 00:14:57,920 --> 00:14:59,000 Like I've got it figured out. 336 00:14:59,000 --> 00:14:59,510 No. 337 00:15:00,320 --> 00:15:05,540 But at least I understand that what the questions are and what I need to do. 338 00:15:06,260 --> 00:15:09,800 And this idea of daily disciplining my character daily, being 339 00:15:09,800 --> 00:15:11,420 hard with ourselves daily. 340 00:15:11,780 --> 00:15:14,540 And consistently saying no to some things yes. 341 00:15:14,570 --> 00:15:15,380 To other things. 342 00:15:15,380 --> 00:15:15,680 No. 343 00:15:15,680 --> 00:15:16,850 To somethings, yes. 344 00:15:16,850 --> 00:15:17,690 To some things. 345 00:15:18,260 --> 00:15:19,790 So, what I'm trying to do is put this on your rider. 346 00:15:20,390 --> 00:15:23,690 Training and disciplining your character, learning when to say no learning. 347 00:15:23,690 --> 00:15:26,180 When to say this is not a good thing for my life. 348 00:15:26,810 --> 00:15:29,720 The last thing he says here in paragraph seven is that rustic has 349 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:31,730 taught him to read attentively. 350 00:15:32,090 --> 00:15:35,090 Not to be satisfied with just getting the gist of it. 351 00:15:35,090 --> 00:15:36,590 I like that to read attentively. 352 00:15:36,920 --> 00:15:38,240 I'm a voracious reader. 353 00:15:38,870 --> 00:15:42,740 But this jumps out at me, because again, though, I don't use social media. 354 00:15:42,770 --> 00:15:47,030 I read a lot of high level, uh, sub stack content. 355 00:15:47,180 --> 00:15:49,190 You know, I try to read some really good people. 356 00:15:50,270 --> 00:15:53,630 And I find that you can be rushing and not paying attention. 357 00:15:53,630 --> 00:15:57,350 And if we want to grow, we want to learn it is worthwhile creating the context, 358 00:15:57,380 --> 00:16:01,430 the environment, my dear friend, where we can concentrate and read deeply and 359 00:16:01,430 --> 00:16:03,590 read attentively and think carefully. 360 00:16:04,100 --> 00:16:07,070 About what's important to us and what matters in the world. 361 00:16:07,370 --> 00:16:07,670 All right. 362 00:16:07,670 --> 00:16:08,450 So summary today. 363 00:16:08,450 --> 00:16:09,110 What have we done? 364 00:16:09,200 --> 00:16:10,070 I've talked about movement. 365 00:16:10,070 --> 00:16:11,930 Get moving, my friends, get moving, get moving. 366 00:16:11,960 --> 00:16:13,700 Let me be encouraging of you here. 367 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:15,860 Stop that gym program. 368 00:16:15,860 --> 00:16:19,460 Make that phone call walk that extra 500 meters. 369 00:16:19,910 --> 00:16:21,140 You know, do that thing. 370 00:16:21,140 --> 00:16:22,730 That's going to get your body healthier. 371 00:16:22,730 --> 00:16:23,030 Why? 372 00:16:23,060 --> 00:16:24,710 Because the healthier you are. 373 00:16:25,370 --> 00:16:27,170 And the longer you are healthier. 374 00:16:27,710 --> 00:16:30,170 The more, you can be a blessing to the people in your life. 375 00:16:30,200 --> 00:16:32,540 It's not about having ripped abs, so that's a benefit. 376 00:16:32,540 --> 00:16:33,140 If you can have it. 377 00:16:33,140 --> 00:16:34,160 I have a couple of friends. 378 00:16:34,700 --> 00:16:36,740 That just have genetically like no body fat. 379 00:16:36,770 --> 00:16:40,670 And I, I don't want to say that I hate them because that would just be cruel. 380 00:16:40,700 --> 00:16:43,730 But my gosh, there are some people that don't have to work too hard. 381 00:16:43,730 --> 00:16:44,000 Right. 382 00:16:44,270 --> 00:16:45,380 But for the rest of us, 383 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:49,430 The fact that we look after ourselves mean we can, we can love for longer. 384 00:16:49,730 --> 00:16:53,810 We can be more present in the lives of our friends and family and kids. 385 00:16:53,810 --> 00:16:56,360 And we can just keep contributing to the lives of other people. 386 00:16:56,360 --> 00:16:57,260 We talked about movement. 387 00:16:57,260 --> 00:16:57,860 We talked about. 388 00:16:58,250 --> 00:17:03,410 My gas station, petrol station experience of radiating positivity to other people. 389 00:17:03,800 --> 00:17:05,870 And then we've got a little deeper with Marcus. 390 00:17:05,900 --> 00:17:09,440 Arrelia says reflections on what he learned from his friend Rustica. 391 00:17:10,220 --> 00:17:10,610 God bless you. 392 00:17:10,610 --> 00:17:11,000 Everybody. 393 00:17:11,030 --> 00:17:13,640 Get out there amongst the go train and Disney character today. 394 00:17:14,180 --> 00:17:16,370 Let me be that nagging voice in your conscience. 395 00:17:16,370 --> 00:17:18,410 When you go for that third cookie today. 396 00:17:19,010 --> 00:17:19,670 And then you go. 397 00:17:20,090 --> 00:17:20,900 Jonathan said. 398 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:22,580 Don't take the cookie. 399 00:17:22,880 --> 00:17:23,210 Okay. 400 00:17:23,360 --> 00:17:25,910 Whatever it is, whatever your cookie looks like, have one, maybe 401 00:17:25,910 --> 00:17:27,170 two, but don't have the third. 402 00:17:27,920 --> 00:17:28,640 God bless everybody. 403 00:17:28,670 --> 00:17:29,510 Would you do me a favor? 404 00:17:29,540 --> 00:17:31,190 Would you subscribe to this podcast? 405 00:17:31,190 --> 00:17:32,180 And would you do something else for me? 406 00:17:32,210 --> 00:17:34,370 Leave a review and maybe send this to some friends. 407 00:17:34,370 --> 00:17:35,690 Chuck it on your Facebook feed. 408 00:17:36,260 --> 00:17:40,160 Put it as a Lincoln, some social media and, um, but just send it out to somebody 409 00:17:40,160 --> 00:17:42,800 and say, Hey, have a listen to this because I just love seeing this grow. 410 00:17:43,160 --> 00:17:43,460 All right. 411 00:17:43,460 --> 00:17:44,240 God bless everybody. 412 00:17:44,270 --> 00:17:45,410 My name's Jonathan Doyle. 413 00:17:45,410 --> 00:17:46,910 This has been the daily message. 414 00:17:46,910 --> 00:17:49,070 And you and I are going to talk again tomorrow.