Take your standard news story about a tornado devastating a town, or record flooding. What does it show? Just how exposed we are to the whims of nature—Fortune as the Stoics would call it.
All that money, time, and energy people put into their homes, their businesses, their beautiful parks and town squares…all of it destroyed in a fraction of a second. It’s morbid and terrifying to think about this, yet essential for that very reason.
It’s a reminder of how little we control, how quickly we can be subjected to forces we are powerless against. This should humble us and make us feel a little weak.
And where would we find strength and confidence then, having been properly taken down to size? Marcus Aurelius—who, as an emperor, had more control over his environment than most—was also the pen behind these lines: “You have power over your mind – not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”
The only real estate you control is the one contained within the walls of your skull for as long as that skull continues to be part of a living body. So get to controlling it.