Our property seems to have a magnetic force attracting stray animals.
Seriously.
As we discussed, a couple New Year’s ago, a big white dog wandered onto our property. I chased him away with a stick. That didn’t work out so well though. He stuck around and adopted us. And, as it turns out, he’s the coolest dog ever.
His name is Zap.
Then another dog showed up and adopted us. This little guy is so friendly he never stops wagging his tail.
His name is Wags.
Then a cat showed up the other day. It had clearly been outside for a while and had some injuries. Mom did her nature nurse thing as we looked for lost cat signs online and offline.
He basically moved in as well.
I’m not a big cat guy but this guy is awesome.
So is his new name.
I just learned this morning that his name is Heroic the Stoic. 😂
Which is actually perfect because the guy is both Heroic AND Stoic in the most pure sense of the word—he’s got a calm, loving, joyful presence to him that the ancient Stoics would admire.
Which leads us to the point of Today’s +1.
And, yes, I was so committed to telling that story that I had to find a practical way to do so. 🤓
A lot of people think Stoics weren’t that happy—that they just kinda sorta “stoically endured” their lives but didn’t really enjoy them.
That is simply not true.
The Stoics, we are told, although they were definitely not the bounce-off-walls-with-manic-“happiness” type, were actually a deeply joyful lot.
Think about it…
When you take command of your inner citadel and truly choose what thoughts you allow to permeate your consciousness, how would YOU feel?
Hint: You'd feel pretty awesome.
Which is why Seneca could write about his life in exile without angst and Epictetus said “‘Do you want me to endure... exile?’ Wherever I go, I will be fine, because I was already fine here—not on account of the place but as a result of my principles, and I am going to take them with me. No one can take them away from me; they are my only possessions, irremovable ones that are enough for me wherever I am and whatever I do.”
And…
That’s Today’s +1.
Here’s to your Heroic Stoic joy.
That’s what I’m going to think about when I admire the calm, confident, understated but ever present joy of our new cat, Heroic the Stoic.
Btw. In addition to stray animals, we also inherited Ryan Holiday’s donkey. He called him Boogers. We named him Sparkles.
We also got some goats. Named them Fred and Winston after two of my favorite heroes—I had to pay the kids for the naming rights. 😂
Best part: Fred is now a unicorn. It’s true.
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