I remember on one school day morning, a friend of mine, Eddy has asked me a profound question. He asked me, “What is something you live by, Ruiz?” I remember my response to him. I told him;
Prepare for the worst. Hope for the best.
This struck my memory again when I was watching a video about Stoicism.
An essential part of Stoicism is that a stoic should always ponder and consider the worst outcome of any situation. This is in preparation for that if the worst is to happen to him or herself, the stoic will not swept from under his or her feet. And to face the worst possible outcome, firstly in our minds, would allow us to reach serenity and calmness in facing those situations.
This is not to say that the stoic is pessimist. Rather, once stoics have prepared themselves mentally for the worst possible consequence of an event, there are upsides for them to look towards from there. This would act as motivation for stoics to ground themselves and put their best feet forward in earning a more positive outcome than the one they have prepared themselves for.
This way of thinking would dispel any anxiety towards the worst result in the acknowledged risk that it could happen. The energy that would have been expended towards anxiousness by a non-stoic, can now be diverted for a better purpose. It can be used for creating better results.
And better results are what we want at anytime.
Ruiz