Today, you’ll be able to make some profound choices.

The fragilista* believes they have little or no choice.

The resilient** believes they can maintain their amount of choice.

The antifragilista^ believes they can increase the amount of choice they have.

“[E]ven the saddest things can become, once we have made peace with them, a source of wisdom and strength for the journey that still lies ahead.”*

A life guarded against failure and pain is a life limited in choice.  But if I accept life will be hard, I’m not as special as I think, my life is not about me, I’m not in control, and, sooner or later, I will die, then I free myself to live in this and every moment?*^

Choice comprises foresight, intention, and love (i.e., imagining, deciding, and acting):

‘Five frogs were sitting on a log.  One decided to jump off; how many are left?  The answer is five.  Why?  Because the frog only decided to jump off.’^*

(*Someone who reacts to life.)
(**Someone who responds to life.)
(^Someone who uses life to initiate something more.)
(^^Frederick Buechner, quoted in John Ortberg’s All the Places to Go.)
(*^In Fire, Stephen Pyne tells of how trying to protect park and farmland from fire led to it being in greater danger.  Fires are vital.)
(^*From Michael Heppell’s How to Be Brilliant.)