Always have a PLAN B

“Indeed, no one can thwart the purposes of your mind—for they can’t be touched by fire, steel,
tyranny, slander, or anything.” —MARCUS AURELIUS, MEDITATIONS, 8.41

Obstacles are a part of life—things happen, stuff gets in our way, situations go awry. But nothing can stop the mind when it’s operating properly, because in every course of action, it has retained “a Plan B.”

What’s that? It’s a backup option. If a friend betrays us, our Plan B is to learn from how this happened and how to forgive this person’s mistake. If we’re thrown in prison, our Plan B is that we can refuse to be broken by this change of events and try to be of service to our fellow prisoners. When a technical glitch erases our work, our Plan B is that we can start fresh and do it better this time.

Our progress can be impeded or disrupted, but the mind can always be changed—it retains the power to
redirect the path.

Part of this is remembering the usual course of things—Murphy’s Law states that “if anything can go wrong, it will.” So we keep this Plan B handy because we know we’re probably going to have to use it. No one can prevent that.

Paraphrased from the Daily Stoic – Meditations on Wisdom, Perseverance and the Art of Living by Ryan Holiday