Epictetus taught that people are disturbed not by things, but by their judgments about things. Between what happens and how you react, there's a small gap, and in that gap lives your freedom. Someone is rude, a plan falls through, the news is bad. The event isn't yours to control, but the meaning you give it and the way you answer are. This doesn't mean stuffing down feelings. It means noticing you have a moment to choose before you react. That pause is short, but it's enough to keep you from adding a worse story on top of a hard fact.

Inspired by the old idea of we are disturbed by judgments, not things. Written by Ugo Charles.