Never Admit Defeat
You possess strengths you might not realize you have. Resolve to live up to your own expectations.
P.S: Most of you loved this previous entry on How To Deal With Toxic People.
“You can use it, treat it as raw material. Just pay attention, and resolve to live up to your own expectations. In everything. And when faced with a choice, remember: our business is with things that really matter.” — Marcus Aurelius
“Every difficulty in life presents us with an opportunity to turn inward and to invoke our own inner resources. The trials we endure can and should introduce us to our strengths. Prudent people look beyond the incident itself and seek to form the habit of putting it to good use. On the occasion of an accidental event, don’t just react in a haphazard fashion: remember to turn inward and ask what resources you have for dealing with it. Dig deeply. You possess strengths you might not realize you have. Find the right one. Use it.” — Epictetus
Never admit defeat. That's not you. That’s not what you promised yourself.
You adjust. You adapt. You find a way. If you're too tired to run, you walk. If ten reps feel impossible, you do five. If you can't write a thousand words, you write a hundred. If even that feels like too much, you write a single sentence.
But you don't stop.
You don't skip the workout—you just warm up or stretch for the day. You don't give up on eating healthy—you eat some cashews early in the day to avoid junk. You don't abandon learning—you read one page, one article, one paragraph. You don’t ghost everyone just because you don’t feel social—you check up on one friend. The action doesn't have to be big. It just has to be forward.
Zeno said our, "well-being is realized by small steps, but is truly no small thing." Progress is progress, no matter how small. The only real failure is quitting. So reassess. Rethink. Pivot. Do what you can, with with the resources and time you have, wherever you are. Then do it again tomorrow. For, “until death, all defeats are psychological.”
Perhaps you had forgotten what Marcus Aurelius wrote about progress and adapting to our circumstances. So here’s a neat reminder,
“You must build up your life action by action, and be content if each one achieves its goal as far as possible–and no one can keep you from this. But there will be some external obstacle! Perhaps, but no obstacle to acting with justice, self-control, and wisdom. But what if some other area of my action is thwarted? Well, gladly accept the obstacle for what it is and shift your attention to what is given, and another action will immediately take its place, one that better fits the life you are building.”
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What’s wild is how often we confuse exhaustion with defeat. But tired isn’t broken. Pausing isn’t quitting. And most detours still lead forward if you keep walking.
📌 Progress: now available in half-scoops and questionable form.
⬖ Drafted mid-recalibration on Frequency of Reason: https://bit.ly/4jTVv69
Ah yes, the Stoics: ancient bros who knew that feelings were just guests and you didn’t have to serve them tea.
This reminder hit like a sandal to the soul. Especially this: “Until death, all defeats are psychological.” That’s basically monk code for: “Get up, buttercup, you’re not done till your bones quit.”
Some days I build temples. Other days, I chant one sacred syllable and consider that victory. The trick isn’t doing it all—it’s doing something. Even if all I manage is lighting a candle and not throwing it at someone.
Persistence is prayer in motion. So stretch. Sigh. Send the text. Show up dusty and divine. Because one forward step in truth is worth more than ten in performance.