On this #FathersDay2019, our team hereby presents the following courtesy of the Daily Stoic:
We all wear many hats. We are citizens and employees. Entrepreneurs and brothers and sisters. Volunteers and friends. Neighbors and sons and daughters. Each of these roles has duties and responsibilities, expectations and obligations. Some are important, some are just for fun. Some are life and death, some are trivial. But according to the Stoics, whatever we are doing, whatever role we are in, we owe it to ourselves and our principles to give it our absolute best.
None of these ‘hats’ embody that obligation more than the role that roughly half of all adults take on: Being a parent. It’s a matter of life and death. It’s rewarding. It challenges every part of us. And we owe it to our children to give everything we can to it.
Today happens to be Father’s Day. Marcus Aurelius was a father. Seneca was a father. Thousands, potentially millions, of Stoics through history have been. It challenged them, just as much as it challenges you.
"Be careful to leave your sons well instructed rather than rich,” Epictetus said, “for the hopes of the instructed are better than the wealth of the ignorant.” That’s what Stoicism was really about: Instructions for a moral life, for the good life. And that’s what a parent has to pass onto their kids, much more urgently than money or opportunity.
But what are those instructions? What’s the best way to teach that? Marcus Aurelius said that no one should be ashamed to ask for help. So what if a soldier needs to ask a comrade to pull them up? We have a mission to accomplish, he said, that’s what matters. That’s a wonderful reminder for all the dads (and all parents) out there. We’re in this together. You’re not alone, and yet so much depends on you. We need to do what we can to help each other—so that we can be great for the kids who depend on us.
Which is why Daily Stoic is happy to announce the launch of a new daily free email and site: TheDailyDad.com. You can sign up below for daily help inspired by ancient and timeless wisdom related to one of the most important jobs in the world: Being a father. We’ll kick things off by sending you a guide to 20 Things Great Dads Do Everyday, free (if you don't see it in your inbox right away, be sure to check your spam folder). If you’re not a dad, but are married to one, or related to one—sign them up. If you’ve got friends who are dad, tell them about it.
We’re really excited to kick this off. Sign up now.
And follow Daily Dad on Instagram!
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