Events Are Impersonal and Indifferent

When considering the future, remember that all situations unfold as they do regardless of how we feel about them. Our hopes and fears sway us, not events themselves.

In any events, however seemingly dire, there is nothing to prevent us from searching for its hidden opportunity. It is a failure of the imagination not to do so. But to seek out the opportunity in situations requires a great deal of courage, for most people around you will persist in interpreting events in the grossest terms: success or failure, good or bad, right or wrong. These simplistic, polarized categories obscure more creative – and useful – interpretations of events that are far more advantageous and interesting!

There is a place for prudent planning and for making provision for situations to come. Proper preparation for the future consists of forming good personal habits. This is done by actively pursuing the good in all the particulars of your daily life and by regularly examining your motives to make sure they are free of the shackles of fear, greed, and laziness. If you do this, you won’t be buffeted about by outside events.

What is a “good" event? What is a “bad" event? There is no such thing! What is a good person? The one who achieves tranquility by having formed the habit of asking on every occasion, “What is the right thing to do now?"