We are both particularly smitten with the description within the book of the philosophy of the Stoics. Here is a quote that sums up nicely one of their main tenants:
"If you accept that the universe is uncontrollable, you're going to be a lot less anxious." Albert Ellis
A helpful exercise the stoics seem to engage in, is to imagine how any situation you fear could be a lot worse. It is strangely calming to use this technique! My genius aunt Barb used this method once when she was driving my sisters somewhere when we were kids and her car broke down. They kept repeating all that had gone wrong that day and then saying "but at least we don't have a lame donkey we have to carry on our backs!"
Similar to Viktor Frankl's observations in his masterpiece: "Man's Search For Meaning", the Stoics seem to advocate acknowledging all that is outside of our control, while maintaining a clear vision of our ability to choose our reactions. An everyday (non tragic) example given in the book:
If we don't like how long the line is at the grocery store- we can choose to wait and be a little late or leave. Getting angry no longer feels necessary because you acknowledge you do have a choice.
My explanation/recap feels very weak compared to the insights found in the book! So far it's been a refreshing read. I highly recommend it!
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