Today is a day that Americans, as well as interested observers around the world, have been anticipating for some time. One of the most important elections in American history. November 3rd. For more than a year now, we’ve collectively been referring to this Election Day just by its month and day, not unlike September 11th in the US or 7/7 in the UK, for its consequential nature and the dread it creates in us. It’s a day we’ve been holding our breath for, wondering, worrying, speculating.

Now it’s here. Now what?

No one can tell you what the results will bring, that’s true. But we are assured of one thing: Tomorrow the sun will rise. Life will go on. Besides that, there is a spectrum of possibilities: Trump could be reelected. He could be defeated in a startling, bipartisan rebuke. He could lose a tight race and contest the results or refuse to concede, plunging the country into a constitutional crisis. Agitators from extremist groups on both sides of the political spectrum could riot and fight in the streets. World leaders could exploit the chaos. There could be months of uncertainty. 2020 might, totally independent of the election, have some other surprise in store, as if a pandemic and hurricanes and murder hornets and UFOs and fires were not enough. 

The question the Stoics ask, as always, is this: What are you going to do? What’s your plan? 

You have to have one. You can’t just wing it. You can’t just expect to know what you’ll do if you’ve never considered it. As Seneca said, all the terms of the human lot must be before our eyes. Even the bad ones. Especially the bad ones. 

So whoever you are, whatever you’re doing—whether you’re a sitting senator or a high school student taking remote classes, a senior citizen or a concerned citizen—take a minute to think about the range of possibilities that the next few days might bring. The purpose of this exercise is not to worry, but rather to prepare, to reaffirm your principles and to come up with a plan for how you will respond to what Fate has placed in front of you. 

It’s the unexpected blow that lands most heavily, the Stoics remind us. Don’t let the unpleasant or the unlikely banish a potential outcome from your mind. Mull them all over. Think about what the right responses will be. Consider your obligations and duties. Anticipate the emotions you’re likely to feel, anticipate how to prevent yourself from being overcome by them—whether they are triumphant adulation or righteous rage or something in between. 

And then, like a Stoic—like Cato meeting Caesar, like Stockdale parachuting down into indefinite imprisonment—be ready to meet your responsibilities like a hero. Because whatever tomorrow brings, major or minor, it will be what you’ve been training for. Responding to what life throws at us—that’s what this philosophy is about. 

If you haven’t voted yet in the US and still can—you should. Safely. Wisely. Courageously.

P.S. This was originally sent on November 3, 2020. Sign up today for the Daily Stoic’s email and get our popular free 7-day course on Stoicism.