“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
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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.
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