Endure
The impediment to action advances action.
“Two words should be committed to memory and obeyed by alternately exhorting and restraining ourselves, words that ensure we lead a mainly blameless and untroubled life. These two words were persist and resist.” - Epictetus
Epictetus said the art of living rests on two pillars. Persist and resist. These sound simple until life tests you. When you’ve done everything right- worked hard, learned the skill, kept your integrity- and still nothing gives, persistence feels absurd. You question whether the universe is indifferent or cruel. You feel a Sisyphean agony. Marcus Aurelius faced the same feeling as emperor. That’s why he reminded himself, “The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way.” Failure and resistance are part of your training. Nothing ever goes to waste as long as you give it all your heart. Over time, you’ll see that what was once planted in you in the guise of exploitation will come to spro…
