Meditations 3.4:

“Someone like that—someone who refuses to put off joining the elect—is a kind of priest, a servant of the gods, in touch with what is within him and what keeps a person undefiled by pleasures, invulnerable to any pain, untouched by arrogance, unaffected by meanness, an athlete in the greatest of all contests—the struggle not to be overwhelmed by anything that happens. With what leaves us dyed indelibly by justice, welcoming wholeheartedly whatever comes—whatever we’re assigned—not worrying too often, or with any selfish motive, about what other people say. Or do, or think”

What if I accepted whatever already is as though I had chosen it, that it was somehow part of my master plan for improving my character and furthering my evolution?

Resistance to what is is futile. I only have control over how I respond to what is.

So, when something dreadful has occurred—or even something that’s just simply annoying—I can choose to welcome it wholeheartedly and make the most of it as an opportunity to learn and grow and move forward.