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Welcome back to Dying Every Day. This is Day 139.

The alarm goes off. You reach for your phone. Not because you need to—just because it’s there.

Nothing urgent. Nothing necessary.

And when you finally get up, the pull remains. Not toward stillness—but toward more stimulation. More noise. More distraction.

This is the quiet pattern of most days: not crisis, not collapse—just a gradual movement away from what matters. It usually happens in two directions. Idleness and indulgence. [...]

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Welcome back to Dying Every Day. This is Day 138.

Most conflicts begin with a story we tell ourselves.

“They meant to insult me.”

“They knew this would hurt.”

“They’re trying to undermine me.”

The mind fills in motives. In seconds, the event feels personal, intentional, and almost malicious. Once that story takes hold, anger seems justified. The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius interrupts that story with a different question. [...]

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Welcome back to Dying Every Day. This is Day 137.

The boxes are packed. The room echoes. The keys are handed over.

Something stable disappears, and suddenly the life that made sense yesterday no longer exists today.

And the question appears, quietly but insistently: Where do I belong now?

This is the problem Musonius Rufus addresses when he speaks about exile. And unlike many philosophers, he knew the subject firsthand. A first-century Stoic teacher—and mentor to Epictetus—Musonius was exiled more than once by Roman emperors who distrusted his influence.

He lost position, stability, and home. Yet he insisted: exile is not evil. [...]

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Welcome back to Dying Every Day. This is Day 136.

You don’t need a skull on your desk or a Latin motto in your bio to practice memento mori.

Montaigne, a sixteenth-century philosopher influenced by the Stoics, treats mortality as a human issue rather than a rare or dramatic event. He removes death from the category of “special occasions” and places it where it truly belongs: within everyday life.

Montaigne famously relies on the old saying that “to philosophize is to learn to die.” But his goal isn’t to make you morbid—it’s to make you less influenced by fear. He argues (again and again) that much of what we call “living” is really just avoidance: constant busyness, constant delay, constant mental bargaining. We postpone the hard conversation. We postpone the creative work. We postpone courage. We postpone rest. We even postpone joy.

Remembering death is a way of interrupting the postponement. [...]

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Welcome back to Dying Every Day. This is Day 135.

Most people build happiness like a house on sand—on approval, outcomes, comfort, and conditions. It looks solid when the weather is calm. But when circumstances change—as they always do—the foundation gives way.

Seneca insists the mistake is not bad luck, but bad architecture. “You ask me what is the foundation of a happy life?” he writes. And his answer is not comfort, success, or favorable fortune. It is internal: “a soul that is strong, upright, under control.”

Not a life without trouble—but a soul that can meet trouble without being diminished by it.

Happiness, in this Stoic sense, isn't a mood you just fall into when things go well. It's a foundation—a way of constructing a life that doesn't fall apart when circumstances change.

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Welcome back to Dying Every Day. This is Day 134.

We've all been there, someone interrupts you mid-sentence. The moment is small, almost forgettable—yet something tightens inside. A warmth in the chest. A quiet bracing in the jaw. The urge to correct, to defend, to be seen as right.

It all happens before a single clear thought forms. And already, a choice is waiting to be made.

This is the moment Seneca is speaking about. Anger enters the body before it reaches the mind. The breath shortens. The muscles tense up. A story starts to form rapidly: “They disrespected me. This is unfair. I must respond.” Before we fully realize it, the moment feels charged with necessity. Action feels urgent. Silence feels like surrender.

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In this episode of Dying Every Day, I’m joined by my good friend Brandon Tumblin (The Strong Stoic Newsletter) for a casual chat on the fundamentals of Stoicism. We explore practical ways to apply Stoic philosophy in daily life and reflect on life's greater purpose and the Stoic commitment to building a just society.

Key Takeaways

• Virtue is the only true good
• The dichotomy of control
• Building a just society
• Practical tools for life’s challenges

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In this episode of Dying Every Day, we explore the ancient wisdom behind money, prosperity, and the search for a good life. Drawing on Seneca’s teaching that 'the proper limit to a person’s wealth is first having what is essential, and second, having what is enough,' we examine why chasing more never brings contentment—and why living according to nature frees us from endless craving.

With insights from Boethius, who reminds us that fortune’s gifts are always temporary, this meditation invites you to rethink your relationship with money, success, and security. Rather than fearing its loss or worshiping its presence, the Stoics show us how to hold prosperity lightly, use it wisely, and root our peace in the one form of wealth no one can steal: our character, our choices, and our inner clarity.

If you’re looking for a deeper, saner way to think about money and happiness—this meditation is for you.

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