Accept The Test

“Bearing all this in mind, welcome present circumstances and accept the things whose time has arrived. Be happy when you find that doctrines you have learned and analyzed are being tested by real events.” -Epictetus

Philosophy, or any system for thinking and processing productively, is only as good as our ability to draw upon it in the moment we need it most—the moments when thoughtfully deescalating can mean the difference between what is later contented reflection or regret. Epictetus encourages us to see any perceived hindrance as a sparring partner, training us in strength and resilience.

In Ryan Holiday's The Obstacle Is The Way, we learn of a boxer who would famously smile his way through fights, persisting and reacting to each blow contentedly. Most certainly, the boxer in the ring is being tested by real events; his doctrines are the countless hours of training and practice matches leading up to the day. On match day, the boxer is happy to be tested.

Each day has the potential to be our "match day," a day where knowledge and mental training go from conceptual to practical. The question is whether we'll welcome the difficult circumstances as an opportunity to demonstrate that very training. It is not a matter of smiling through challenges in a manner that appears dismissively out of touch with reality. Rather, it's choosing a response that first and foremost prioritizes thankfulness for having the tools to face that precise battle. It's also useful to think of how a previous you may not have been equipped to navigate the circumstance that a now capable you has found yourself in. An awareness of our own progress and of time at large enables this.

Accept the test. Operate as the person the teachings you've pursued have enabled you to be.

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