Epictetus offered a homely image: at a feast, when the dish comes around, take your share politely as it passes; do not grab, and do not chase it down the table when it moves on. So it is with everything life hands us, health, company, good fortune. We receive it for a time, then it passes on, and our peace depends on holding it that way, open-handed. So much of what weighs us down is the grabbing and the chasing, the refusal to let a thing go when it is already going. Today, notice where you are clutching at something you cannot keep. Loosen your grip, just slightly. You will not lose what is truly yours, and you will carry the rest far more lightly.

Inspired by the old idea of holding things loosely. Written by Ugo Charles.