Marcus Aurelius wrote to accept what happens the way you'd accept a friend's nature, fully, without wishing it were otherwise. This isn't pretending hard things are good. It's stopping the second, exhausting fight, the one where you argue with reality after it's already arrived. The traffic is here. The bad news is here. The fight drains you more than the fact ever did. You can feel the disappointment honestly and still set down the wish that it were different. From there, you can actually respond. Loving what is doesn't mean liking it. It means no longer wasting yourself resisting what you cannot undo.

Inspired by the old idea of amor fati. Written by Ugo Charles.