Facing a rough day? Meet Epictetus, born into slavery 2,000 years ago without a name; Epictetus just means "acquired one".

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In every way, the deck was stacked against Epictetus. Two thousand years ago in Heropolis, he was born into slavery. He wasn't even given a name, Epictetus just means acquired one. He was tortured, the fruits of his labor were stolen, his body was abused like a horse that was ridden into the ground and then put down. Later he was unfairly exiled. He went through unimaginable adversity and difficulty, and yet he triumphed. Because Epictetus didn't look at his life as a series of horrors and tragedies, but as a set of endless opportunities. A podium and a prison is each a place, he said. One high and the other low, but in either place, your freedom of choice can be maintained if you wish. Every event has two handles, he said, one by which it can be carried and one by which it can't. Epictetus chose to focus on what was in his control, his opinions, his values, his wants, his sense of self, and ignore the rest. Looking around at the powerful men and women in Nero's court where he worked, Epictetus began to notice that although he was a slave, he was freer than many of them. They were enslaved to power and ambition, pleasure and attention. Their minds wandered, they were easily distracted, they were wounded by minor offenses and consumed by petty grudges. They lived bad lives. So he educated himself under the great Stoic teacher, Musonius Rufus, and eventually won his freedom. He himself became a teacher of Rome's brightest students, including the future emperor, Hadrian. His ideas made their way to Marcus Aurelius, and suddenly a man who had so little power was influencing the most powerful people in the world for the better. What we learn from Epictetus is not just sheer endurance and resilience, but the to find and make a good life anywhere, in all times. Circumstances don't make the man, Epictetus said, they only reveal him to himself. The Stoics said, we are actors in a play. All an actor can do is play their role well, and learn to let go of the rest. That's how we must see life. We don't control where we were born, or who our parents are, or how other people treat us. We only control what we do with the material we are given. Yes, so much of it is out of our control, but we have a lot more agency than some people think. We can, through determination and skill, learn how to shape our own destiny. Control it? No. Shape it? Yes, by turning in a splendid performance in our current role, whatever it happens to be. I hope you liked this video. I hope you subscribe. But what I really want you to subscribe to is our Daily Stoic email. One bit of Stoic wisdom, totally for free, to the largest community of Stoics ever in existence. And I hope to see you there at dailystoic.com slash email.