Good Morning!

Happy Monday. I hope you all had great holidays and are ready to get right back after it.

This week is going to be all about what happens to the “self” under pressure. It’ll be a good segue after last week’s self-actualization theme.

Today, we’re going to talk about the shock of disruption with Epictetus. Burning that off, we’re going to do a reality check (literally). Wrapping up with our Book Nook, we’re going to open up Epictetus’ Discourses.

Have a seat, Thought Breakfast is served!

Every day we build plans, timelines, and intentions. It puts us at ease when things are “going according to plan.” When we make these plans, we’re often quietly assuming that reality will cooperate. But then come the delays, the let-downs, the outcomes changing, and life just refusing the script we wrote for it. That’s when frustration starts: when reality breaks our expectations.

The disruption itself isn’t always even the deepest pain. The real suffering comes from the mental resistance to this switch-up. We replay in our heads how things should’ve gone, what was supposed to happen, and why something “shouldn’t be” happening. We really do suffer more from resistance than from disruption itself.

Epictetus brings this back to his golden distinction: plans are ours, but outcomes are not. Control ends right where reality begins. These plans and expectations we’ve set exist only in our minds, and reality has no rule book. True character here is revealed by the response, not the expectation. While intentions may be a form of character, response to real outcomes is right up there with them. It’s called resilience. And it begins when your expectations yield to the outcomes.

Now we’ve realized our frustration is often grief for the future we imagined. That frustration, that pressure, reveals our attachment to outcomes. The stronger the script, the harder the collapse. Reality tests how tightly we cling to imagined futures. Think about what it might be like to loosen that grip.

Ask yourself:

“Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.” — Epictetus, Discourses

Epictetus shifts focus from disappointment to usefulness. Even when our plans collapse, something remains within our power: our response. Even if we don’t have good responses when things don’t go our way, we at least have the opportunity to try letting go a bit. Peace begins when we stop resisting and clinging to what has already happened. Strength comes from using reality instead of fighting it.

Munch on that for today. Have a great day and come back tomorrow for another steaming hot plate of Thought Breakfast!

Thank you for reading along with us today! If you enjoy this content, and want to start your days grounded in thought and mindfulness, I suggest you have a seat at our table! Smash that button below to check out more editions and subscribe!

Remember to stay mindful, smell the flowers, and take it easy.

Chef Ricky - Thought Breakfast