Prepare For The Possible

An excerpt from Letters from a Stoic finds philosopher Seneca writing about a man whose town was destroyed by a fire. “It is a disaster by which anyone might be shaken,” Seneca writes, “let alone a person quite devoted to his hometown.” One of the less-highlighted attributes of the prominent Stoics was their empathy—their understanding and acknowledgement of the human’s natural reaction to life’s dealings. Accordingly, Seneca recognizes the validity of this man’s devastation. What he also recognizes is something quite profound as we consider our own emotional responses to what we’d perceive as misfortune: “What is quite unlooked for is more crushing in its effect, and unexpectedness adds to the weight of a disaster. The fact that it was unforeseen has never failed to intensify a person’s grief.”

The unexpectedness of an event intensifies it. (This, too, is why good surprises are even sweeter. An unexpected raise, an unsolicited gift—the act or item itself is enough to raise serotonin levels, but the delight of the surprise brought about by it is often the true source of magic.)

It goes without saying that few of us are eager to imagine something so severe as one’s entire city being consumed by a blazing fire. There are the events that are so far from our cognitive consideration that we’re unlikely to conceive of them, and there are those that we can conceive but would prefer not to think about (loss, etc.). We’re to remind ourselves that the goal of preparation in this way is not agonizing rumination in itself, but practical and emotional inoculation that aids our ability to face matters bravely.

May anticipation cultivate bravery.

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