When we're out on the road and there's a traffic jam on the road, it is easy to fall prey to anger and curse the way things are and start honking impatiently at the others in front of us, who are equally incapable of doing anything in the situation as us. They're stuck, just like us.

The other extreme is to give in to the thought that this is how things always are and start blaming ourselves for not foreseeing this and start thinking we'll never come out in the traffic again if we can avoid it.

When stoics say that we should accept that this is how things are in the moment, they aren't suggesting apathy about the situation.

Instead, they're indicating that we should accept that this is how things are, and then build positively from there. 

There is no use complaining that the Earth is round or that there are seasons through the year. These are outside our control and are a given. They form the environment that we live in.

Yet, we make the most of the environment and utilise it to our advantage as best we can. 

Yes, this is the way things are. But that's not an invitation to shut down. 

It's an invitation to explore all the possibilities now that this is the way things are.

Where do we go from here?