Szymon's Zettelkasten

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PN: You can turn any misfortune into good fortune

Reference: "Here is a rule to remember in future, when anything tempts you to feel bitter: Not this is misfortune, but to bear this worthily is good fortune"

  • Marcus Aurelius

One of the main stoic principles says that you can't control outside events, but you can control how you will react to them.

That said, negative events won't change if you start feeling bitter or complaining about your situation. In fact, nothing will change them. The only thing that can change is your reaction to these events.

In fact, each negative event carries with it a hidden gem. You can use this gem to improve your character. You can do this by fighting your natural urge to blame the world, and instead, determining what you can learn from this situation.

A mentality that welcomes misfortune is the growth mindset. It's when you stop judging your experiences by good or bad because each of those experiences, whether positive or negative, is an opportunity to learn.


Relevant notes:

Referenced in

PN: The growth mindset

PN: You can turn any misfortune into good fortune: The only thing you can change is how you approach outside circumstances. This is where growth lies.

P: Problems contain a gem that can help you grow

PN: You can turn any misfortune into good fortune: Feeling bad about problems, won't change anything. Instead, you can change your reaction to them and treat them positively, as each misfortune is an opportunity to derive a new principle.