Q&A: Donald Robertson: Impermanence
Welcome to the one day at a time podcast where we forget about yesterday. We don't worry about tomorrow. It's what are we going to do today? This all matters because you've only ever had or will ever have the fantastic twenty four hours a day you're about to embark on. Hopefully this episode is going to give you some daily dose of wisdom that you can take action on today to improve your life.
Speaker 1:Remember, all it takes is one day at a time. Good day everyone it's 11PM yesterday. So I'm recording this after an year four marathon with Donald Robertson and Leila Lloyd on you know life basically and no no listen I know it's long. I know they're not gonna get shot because you can cut these up into bits. You can listen to them whilst you're making your salad like Donald does, whilst you're walking.
Speaker 1:There's many ways to do it. Not getting cut. Look, I'm not good, but we're going through I'm gonna give you some give you some information from the chat right a lot of gold I'm gonna come at you with a few things now so listen up it's time to learn some philosophy from the big Don and Leah Lloyd. Okay, first thing we talk about impermanence basically look we're all gonna die end of okay we need to accept that, we're not as important as we think we are so let's make the most of every moment of our lives because there's no meaning to life, but we give meaning to the moments of our lives. There's enough to be huge.
Speaker 1:You don't have to be multimillionaire. You don't have to be the most beautiful person that's ever lived. The first thing is as Donald said. So Epictetus said, don't ask things to happen as you wish, but wish them to happen as they do, and your life will flow smoothly. Perfect.
Speaker 1:Can you control COVID? No. Can you control when lockdown ends? No. Why fight the decisions like, oh, hate it and all lockdowns coming and stress me out.
Speaker 1:Yeah, okay, well, life has changed end of things change all the time. So like, why are you expecting anything different? Life is changing people are always changing things that change circumstances are changing just focus on you what you can do every day and things are going to change so and then he goes on to say by Horace, no Horace sorry Heraclitus, the famous saying you've probably heard it, you cannot step in the same river twice, nothing's ever the same ever. I think that's what people struggle with is they try and hold on to something that was the past like I had this perfect relationship. Oh, I had this.
Speaker 1:Like, last year, was with this person. It was amazing. Last year, was in his job, it was amazing. Last year, was living here, and it was amazing. Last year, or, like, the year before, I was living in Barcelona.
Speaker 1:Last year, was living in America. And, like, oh, I was in holiday this time last year. Okay. Well, life's different all the time. This is a different time.
Speaker 1:So it's gonna be different. You know, what can we do? It's gonna we're gonna have the you know, we're gonna have those mighty highs where we go on holiday and all our stuff. We're gonna have real lows. But life has changed end of okay so next thing you spoke about that I'm gonna talk about let me get it let me find it And this is a good one, which is Latin for where are they now?
Speaker 1:Augustus advises wife daughter descendants the whole court is dead. The inscription on tombs the last of his race consider how much trouble their ancestors took over leaving a successor yet of necessity someone must be the last finally consider the extinction of an entire race there's gonna be a last fear one day who cares I mean I'll long gone I mean, cool, happy days. Max Aurelia said, With everything which happens, keep before your mind's eye men to whom the same things have happened and how they become annoyed and treated such events as though they were strange and complained. Yet where are they now? There's an emperor, whatever it was, who was like, look, someone did a statue put up when he died, like this is my massive city, this is what I've built and then as time went on the city was completely gone, the statue is still there and it's like asking people to read and be like, look at the city behind the statue and it's like just sand, it's gone.
Speaker 1:I mentioned in the chat, right? This is mental, right? So the universe, okay? The universe is vast and it's going to be around for a long time. For life to be possible in the universe, planets have to be within a certain range life as we know it a certain range from the sun's the stars for there to be the temperature for water right so the chemicals and stuff there has to be the Goldilocks zone where there's planets of decent place from the sun.
Speaker 1:The universe is expanding right and as it keeps expanding the distance between planets and stars is getting bigger so before long things will be so far away apart that the stars are not heating up the planets and everything just turns into this cold, this freeze. Right? But the thing is the universe, the majority of the universe's life will be in that state of cold and freeze where there's no life not not not not not not not not not not not not not 1%. A one billionth billionth of a billionth billion billion billion billion billionth of percent. So life is only possible in this universe for that amount of time.
Speaker 1:The rest of the universe is time alive or not even alive here is gonna be what they call, like, this freeze where everything's gonna be too far apart, gravitational pulls are not gonna pull things in, and it'll just all wither into supermassive black holes. Think of that. So the chance of you even being alive at this exact time when the universe is is life is just mental. Absolutely crazy. Crazy.
Speaker 1:Mental. It might blow your head off. I don't know. Maybe it'll blow your head off. I don't know.
Speaker 1:It's important to think about really when you think about life and stuff. And the scientists say, you know, your chance of you being alive is, like, 400,000,000,000,000 to one, which is mental. Know, all the sperm cells all fighting each other up there. Oh, fighting, scrapping, right hook, left hook. One of them made it, and that's you to the egg.
Speaker 1:The rest of them would have been a different person. Now that no. Look. We can't get into this. It's too it's too deep for now.
Speaker 1:The blowheads. But think of it. Basically, we're super super super super super super lucky to be alive right now on this planet at this specific time with technology to speak to listen to this audio note blah blah blah blah it's amazing. Non attachment you need to start doing instead of saying I wish I had a Ferrari and then you feel bad for not having one you must say wow like imagine I didn't have the internet right now that would suck and then go actually I do have the internet. Do only wake up from a bad dream when you've gone to jail in your dream?
Speaker 1:Have you had that? I don't know why like but I'm going to jail sometimes in my dream, I'm doing something really bad and I'm ending up in jail for life like and then I'm panicking, I'm in jail for life, my life is over, and then I wake up and I'm like oh my god, thank god that was a dream, I'm not in jail, so that might happen. I wish I could bottle up that feeling of waking up with such a relief that I'm alive and I'm not that person in my dreams maybe some nightmare I don't know but yes try and try and do that with gratitude, that's the way to do it. Okay here's one from Marcus Aurelius about living in the here and now, If you shall strive to live only what is really a life, that is the present moment, then you will be able to pass that portion of life, which remains for you up to the time of your death free from worry. So Marcus is on about the only time you ever have is right now and guess where your life is right now me and you you.
Speaker 1:Me and you you're talking with us that's your life right now it's the only thing that's real well even if you well that's another debate but that's the only thing that's real right now is me and you so enjoy it you enjoying your walk are you enjoying listening put a smile on your face wave for someone go on give him a wave look at a dog cute dog someone someone's definitely walking and see some cute dogs right now jealous And then we're on to Lady Lloyd who showed some amazing poems and there's funny clips of that post in the group but this poem I've never heard it but we're leaving this one. It's by Horus five hundred BC ish might have got that wrong two and a half thousand years old okay here we go. Don't ask me it should be a crime to know, what lifespan the gods allow. To you and me don't bother with horoscopes. Far better to bear the future, my darling, like the past.
Speaker 1:Whether Jupiter has many winters yet to give or this is our last. For now another winter wears out the sea on the brittle rocks. Strain your wine. Be wise and prune back your hopes within a narrow plot. While we were talking envious time has fled.
Speaker 1:Seize the day, trust in tomorrow as little as possible. How good is that two and a half thousand years ago? What the hell? We're even worse now. Terrible.
Speaker 1:Horoscopes now automatically get emailed to some people in an inbox and they believe it. If you believe horoscopes honestly it's literally like random stuff that will apply to anyone okay and then you think it's gonna dictate your life then you're wasting your time like oh you should marry a police officer or whatever it says don't listen to it even Horace was saying it back end. I'm basically like look there's no point looking at how much time we got left blah blah blah like the Universe example there's no point looking around how much time is life like there's no point. You need to know we're lucky and it talks then about, you know, prune back your hopes within a narrow plot like don't give yourself huge hopes like June yes amazing hopefully that is freedom day if you're gonna book a holiday for June and see amazing, be a garden in a day and you're gonna put all this money into it and plan, you're gonna really hope and if that doesn't happen or it rains or whatever, you're gonna be hit like a you're gonna be hit by a bus. So is that living wise?
Speaker 1:Is that being wise? I'm not sure what it is so it's about really being realistic with stuff and focusing on the present moment what you can control narrowing your plot, working on your plot that you can control and then that's going to blossom and then yourself is going to blossom you don't have to worry about things outside of your control and you're going to be loving it, but the main thing is like seize the day so you know one day at a time philosophy is key that's what we learn that's what we're trying to do but in terms of seizing the day you're not I'm not gonna ask you like oh if this is what if this is your last day alive what would you do it's not the way to look at it the way to look at it is like if you were to live the best day possible today, if you were to just do it for a day, what would it look like today? Like in the best day possible doesn't mean going on a beach on holiday, no that's not, that's those things you do once a few times a year.
Speaker 1:The best day possible for your real day to day what does that look like does that look like a walk does that look like a phone call with your parents your best friend does that look like doing something that gives you a laugh watching like I don't know, one of your favorite TV shows or something? Does it look like, you know, doing the work you really enjoy doing for once? Like, is your job? You know, there's some tasks you do in your job that you really like? Do that today.
Speaker 1:Is it about, like, tracking your macros or, like, eating foods that make you feel good and healthy? Is it about drinking water? Is it about being in control in terms of empowerment and like, yeah, I'm doing this for the better myself? Is it about patting your dog? Because, yeah, that's good.
Speaker 1:Is it about playing with a dog? I need dog, guys. I need dog. Is it about what is it about just do it do that today and let me know how it goes seize the day today and let me know how it goes living the most seized day fast even term possible and I'll leave you with that guys if you want to listen to all this gold and you can listen to it obviously you might be here until next year but it's great information and I wouldn't have it any other way and I appreciate Donald and Leila sharing all this wisdom that's been the thousands of years of wisdom which want to distill it in six weeks but you have lifetime access if you're a turtle member or striking solar to all of these chats which I highly recommend you do take time to listen to. Anyway seize the day No mercy.
Speaker 1:And that's it. Thank you for listening to the one day at a time podcast with your host, Gottfleer. Hopefully, you understood something I said. I hope that some wisdom kind of distilled through into your mind, and I want you to now action it today. I don't want you to think about tomorrow.
Speaker 1:I don't want you to think about yesterday. I don't want you to think about leaving a review on this podcast. I don't want you to think about going to another website. What I want you to do is as soon as this podcast ends, you will take action and make the most of today. Ground yourself today.
Speaker 1:Follow the one day at a time philosophy, and your life will change.
