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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.