I find that my life is full of surprises. They make life more interesting and also more difficult.
Ralph Waldo Emerson wrote, “Life is a series of surprises.” It is therefore wise to leave a wide margin for shocks and surprises. By doing so we may, to some degree, cushion ourselves from the pain of sudden contingencies. While it is impossible to fully anticipate the future, sound preparations must be made to confront unforeseen circumstances. A good example would be to buy full medical coverage for traveling abroad or to keep a special fund to rely on during emergencies. Sometimes when luck smiles on us, we should be ready to seize it – for example, opportunities to make handsome profits in the stock market. Norman Cousins wrote, “Wisdom consists of the anticipation of consequences.”
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It is prudent to take ample safeguards against the unpredictability of people. Whether they are friends, associates, or even family members, we cannot always be sure that they will act in a way we expect. To avoid disappointments, we should learn to cope with the fickleness and erratic nature of some people.
Many time what we anticipate may not occur, and what we least expect may occur.
The behaviour of people often surprises me. People are generally not as good or bad as they first appear. Coping with this unpredictability, for me, is a major challenge. What do you do with those who renege on their word, for instance? On way I found to tolerate such behaviour is to realize that I have also been, at times, unpredictable.
I hope you have enjoyed this excerpt from my book. I will be posting more excerpts in future posts, so please come back. Click here to buy your copy of A Book of Wisdom and Delight from Amazon today.
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