Just Finished Reading Courage is Calling by Ryan Holiday

Courage is Calling, published in 2021, is the first book in Ryan Holiday's philosophy series about stoicism's Four Cardinal Virtues...click HERE to read my review of the second book about the "second" virtue of temperance: Discipline is Destiny.  His books are short and easy to read, and I tend to subscribe to his stoic belief system.  The only problem I have with his format is that he relies, in my subjective opinion, too heavily on historical examples instead of more mundane, everyday applications that I and other readers could more easily relate to.  Publicly calling out a brutal dictator in the face of death, rushing off into the heat of battle with little chance of surviving and enduring intimidation and persecution for whistle-blowing against the police or corporations are definitely acts of courage, but I'm probably not going to be engaging in any of these acts of obvious bravery.  But refusing to tow the line whenever I see corruption around me...and corruption is not a punctuated, rare phenomenon but ever-present, entrenched in fallen human nature...will never eliminate that corruption.  But recognizing its presence and adhering to my own higher principles can serve as a model to others that they, too, can rise above that base nature.  Ryan Holiday seems like a young dude, certainly not in my age group.  And as one ages, emerging serious health concerns can place a great demand for courage as they are forced to deal with them, whether it is their own or those affecting loved ones...this is an ongoing matter with me and my immediate family.  Cursing the world for being unfair and cruel with the onset of crushing events demands little courage, but getting up each day and living one's live in a state of gratitude, hope and determination is, to me, the essence of a courageous attitude and lifestyle...the author would have been better served in his book had he incorporated more of this into his numerous historical examples.  Still, I plan to finish his series, still in the progress of writing, although I believe book number three is available...