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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.