Serendipity, Epictetus, & a Shirtless Jake Gyllenhaal

A few nights ago I watched Serendipity (it was December 17, 2023 if you’re reading this on my website in the year 3147).

Like most romcoms/romantic movies, it’s a cute & enjoyable watch if you don’t overanalyze. Also Kate Beckinsale.

side note: who else is just now finding out it’s Beckinsale not Beckinsdale? Oh, just me??

Sure, I believe you…

Towards the end of the movie, Dean (played by Jeremy Piven), drops an Epictetus quote (see the clip above if you’re interested).

“If you want to improve, be content to be thought foolish and stupid.”

After a quick Goog, I discovered it’s part of a larger quote with additional context that slightly changes the meaning. But we’re not overanalyzing here— it works in the movie.

This got me thinking about some of my favorite Epictetus quotes that help me with my health/wellness/fitness…

“First say to yourself what you would be; and then do what you have to do.”

What do you want to be? Who do you want to be? What are the daily action steps you have to do to become that what or who?

“The key is to keep company only with people who uplift you, whose presence calls forth your best.”

Self-discipline is the single most important factor. Your drive must come from within. But surrounding yourself with people who bring out your best is invaluable.

“If your choices are beautiful, so too will you be.”

If your choices are healthy, so too will you be. You’re the sum of your choices and habits. Say yes to good things and no to bad things as often as possible.

“Seek not the good in external things; seek it in yourselves.”

Epictetus is talking about being a good person. In a health & fitness context, seek not the good in the external vanity; seek it in the work. Learn to love doing the work. Let the external results be a bonus and byproduct of doing the work.

“He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.”

Love your body right now—as is—while moving in the direction of your goals.

“How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself and in no instance bypass the discriminations of reason? You have been given the principles that you ought to endorse, and you have endorsed them. What kind of teacher, then, are you still waiting for in order to refer your self-improvement to him? You are no longer a boy, but a full-grown man. If you are careless and lazy now and keep putting things off and always deferring the day after which you will attend to yourself, you will not notice that you are making no progress, but you will live and die as someone quite ordinary. From now on, then, resolve to live as a grown-up who is making progress, and make whatever you think best a law that you never set aside. And whenever you encounter anything that is difficult or pleasurable, or highly or lowly regarded, remember that the contest is now: you are at the Olympic Games, you cannot wait any longer, and that your progress is wrecked or preserved by a single day and a single event. That is how Socrates fulfilled himself by attending to nothing except reason in everything he encountered. And you, although you are not yet a Socrates, should live as someone who at least wants to be a Socrates.”

How long are you going to wait before you demand the best for yourself?

Feel Great

“Don't just say you have read books. Show that through them you have learned to think better, to be a more discriminating and reflective person. Books are the training weights of the mind. They are very helpful, but it would be a bad mistake to suppose that one has made progress simply by having internalized their contents.” ― Epictetus

Want to feel great? Knowing what to do is not enough. Embody it. Live it!

Rock a Nice Little Bod

Remember, visual results are a lagging indicator of your daily efforts. Show up every day and trust the process.

Enjoy Life

“Amor fati is the Stoic mindset that you take on for making the best out of anything that happens: Treating each and every moment—no matter how challenging—as something to be embraced, not avoided. To not only be okay with it, but love it and be better for it. So that like oxygen to a fire, obstacles and adversity become fuel for your potential.” [Daily Stoic]

Suffering arises from trying to control what is uncontrollable, or from neglecting what is within our power.

“To make the best of what is in our power, and take the rest as it occurs.”

Nice Little Body of the Week

Jake Gyllenhaal (Road House, 2024)

“The new take follows a former UFC fighter who takes a job as a bouncer at a rough-and-tumble roadhouse in the Florida Keys but soon discovers that not everything is what it seems in this tropical paradise.”

TAKE MY MONEY!

Eargasm of the Week

Thank you for reading.

feel great. rock a nice little bod. enjoy life.

Steve