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August 21st

DON’T BE MISERABLE IN ADVANCE

“It’s ruinous for the soul to be anxious about the future and

miserable in advance of misery, engulfed by anxiety that the

things it desires might remain its own until the very end. For such

a soul will never be at rest—by longing for things to come it will

lose the ability to enjoy present things.”

—SENECA, MORAL LETTERS, 98.5b–6a

he way we nervously worry about some looming bad news is strange if
you think about it. By definition, the waiting means it hasn’t happened
yet, so that feeling bad in advance is totally voluntary. But that’s what we
do: chewing our nails, feeling sick to our stomachs, rudely brushing aside
the people around us. Why? Because something bad might occur soon.
The pragmatist, the person of action, is too busy to waste time on such
silliness. The pragmatist can’t worry about every possible outcome in
advance. Think about it. Best case scenario—if the news turns out to be
better than expected, all this time was wasted with needless fear. Worst case
scenario—we were miserable for extra time, by choice.
And what better use could you make of that time? A day that could be
your last—you want to spend it in worry? In what other area could you
make some progress while others might be sitting on the edges of their seat,
passively awaiting some fate?
Let the news come when it does. Be too busy working to care.