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This is why we say that nothing happens to the wise person contrary to their expectations.”
Seneca, On Tranquility of Mind, 13.3b
When Seneca was talking about “the wise”, I believe he was referring to the same kind of folx Buddhists would call “awakened” or even “enlightened”. Wisdom, like enlightenment or awakening, helps the individual get past the mindless snares of cyclical habituation. In other words, the wise, like the enlightened, are not victims of their egos.
Holiday offers a few reasons as to why this is (The Daily Stoic, 191):
First, the wise manage their presumptions, and wrangle in any foolish hopes for irrational outcomes. They don’t predict they’ll receive what isn’t feasible in the first place.
Second, they keep a firm grip on reality, including all outcomes regardless of a positive or negative nature. Their focus isn’t only on what they want to happen, but on what realistically could happen. If things go pear-shaped, they won’t be caught off-guard, as they’ve been real with their expectations, seeing things fail as well as succeed.
Finally, they pre-install a reverse clause - meaning they don’t only prepare for what may go wrong, but they prepare for what comes after, as if the “wrong” was the way they planned on going in the first place… kind of like Dr. Strange did in the first Infinity Wars film.
Join me in adding these three steps to daily practice. If we work on them diligently, we’ll find that little to nothing surprises us, and few things will happen outside of our expectations.
Hence, no “problems”.
(See y’all tomorrow)
Holiday offers a few reasons as to why this is (The Daily Stoic, 191):
First, the wise manage their presumptions, and wrangle in any foolish hopes for irrational outcomes. They don’t predict they’ll receive what isn’t feasible in the first place.
Second, they keep a firm grip on reality, including all outcomes regardless of a positive or negative nature. Their focus isn’t only on what they want to happen, but on what realistically could happen. If things go pear-shaped, they won’t be caught off-guard, as they’ve been real with their expectations, seeing things fail as well as succeed.
Finally, they pre-install a reverse clause - meaning they don’t only prepare for what may go wrong, but they prepare for what comes after, as if the “wrong” was the way they planned on going in the first place… kind of like Dr. Strange did in the first Infinity Wars film.
Join me in adding these three steps to daily practice. If we work on them diligently, we’ll find that little to nothing surprises us, and few things will happen outside of our expectations.
Hence, no “problems”.
(See y’all tomorrow)
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