H

August 6th

THERE IS ALWAYS MORE ROOM TO MANEUVER THAN YOU

THINK

“Apply yourself to thinking through difficulties—hard times can be

softened, tight squeezes widened, and heavy loads made lighter

for those who can apply the right pressure.”

—SENECA, ON TRANQUILITY OF MIND, 10.4b

ave you ever been hopelessly losing a game that suddenly broke wide
open and you won? Remember that time when you thought you were
certain to fail the test, but with an all-nighter and some luck you managed to
eke out a decent score? That hunch you pursued that others would have
given up on—that turned out brilliantly?
It’s that kind of energy and creativity and above all faith in yourself that
you need right now. Defeatism won’t get you anywhere (except defeat). But
focusing your entire effort on the little bit of room, the tiny scrap of an
opportunity, is your best shot. An aide to Lyndon Johnson once remarked
that around the man “there was a feeling—if you did everything, you would
win.” Everything. Or as Marcus Aurelius put it, if it’s humanly possible,
you can do it.