June 18th Reading from The Daily Stoic - Prepared And Active

"Let Fate find us prepared and active. Here is the great soul - the one who surrenders to Fate. The opposite is the weak and degenerate one, who struggles with and has poor regard for the order of the world, and seeks to correct the faults of the gods rather than their own."

~ Seneca, Moral Letters, 107.12

     I would like to note that one needs to understand the Stoic mindset to truly appreciate this quote. If a Stoic sees wrongdoing, for example, the Stoic does everything humanly possible to correct the situation. But if they fail, they carry on, and would consider tantrums about their failure about as sensible as a tantrum at being unable to stop the rising or setting of the sun. You can only do what you can do; it is pointless to rage that you cannot do the impossible. That is what is meant by "surrendering to Fate" - not passive acquiescence to whatever happens, but active attempts to improve the world, with the acceptance of the fact that you will not always be successful in doing so, and that some things will ultimately be out of your hands.