it was the first Century A.D and Lucius Aeneas Seneca was struggling to work the problem was the ear shattering Soul rattling noise that poured in from the street below athletes worked out in the gymnasium underneath his suite of rooms dropping heavy weights a masseuse pummeled the backs of old fat men at the entrance of the building a pickpocket was being arrested and making the scene passing carriages rumbled over the stone streets while Carpenters hammered away in their shops and vendors shouted their Wares children laughed and played dogs bark and more than the noise outside his
window there was this simple fact that seneca's life was falling apart overseas unrest threatened his finances he was getting older and could feel it he had been pushed out of politics by his enemies and now on the outs with Nero he could easily at the emperor's whims lose his head it was not a great environment for a human to get anything done the noise and distractions of the empire were enough to make me hate my very powers of herein Seneca told a friend yet for good reason this scene has tantalized admirers for centuries how does
a man besieged by adversity and difficulty not only not go out of his mind but actually find the serenity to think clearly and to write perfectly crafted essays which would reach Millions upon millions and touch untruths that few have ever accessed I have toughened my nerves against all that sort of thing Seneca explained to that same friend about the noise I forced my mind to concentrate and keep it from straying to things outside itself all Outdoors may be Bedlam provided that there is no disturbance Within isn't that what we all crave to be able to
tune out your surroundings to access one's full capacities at any time in any place despite every difficulty how wonderful that would be if a person could develop peace within themselves then the whole world could be at War and they could still think well work well and be well you may be sure that you are at peace with yourself Seneca wrote when no noise reaches you when no word shakes you out of yourself whether it be flattery or a threat or merely an empty sound buzzing about you with unmeaning sin in this state nothing could touch
them not even a deranged Emperor no emotion could disturb them no threat could interrupt them in every beat of the present moment would be theirs for living they would have achieved that magical place that magical word of Stillness when I wrote The Daily Stoke eight years ago I had this crazy idea that I would just keep it going the book was 366 meditations but I write one more every single day and I give it away for free as an email I thought maybe a few people would sign up couldn't have even comprehended a future in
which three quarters of a million people would get this email every single day and would for almost a decade if you want to get the email if you want to be part of a community that is the largest group of Stokes ever assembled in human history I'd love for you to join us you can sign up and get the email totally for free no spam you can unsubscribe whenever you want at dailystillic.com email [Music] thank you
