Many of the things that upset us, the Stoics believed, are a product of the imagination, not reality. Like dreams, they are vivid and realistic at the time but preposterous once we come out of it. In a dream, we never stop to think and say: "Does this make any sense?" No, we go along with it. The same goes with our flights of anger or fear or other extreme emotions. Getting upset is like continuing the dream while you're awake. The thing that provoked you wasn't real-but your reaction was. And so from the fake comes real consequences. Which is why you need to wake up right now instead of creating a nightmare.
( Ryan Holiday )
[ The Daily Stoic: 366 ]
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