The Great Acting Blog: “Responding To Adversity”

The Great Acting Blog: “Responding To Adversity”

“Remember that it is not he who reviles you or strikes you, who insults you, but it is your opinion about these things as being insulting. When then a man irritates you, you must know that it is your own opinion which has irritated you. Therefore especially try not to be carried away by the appearance. For if you once gain time and delay, you will more easily master yourself. ” Epictetus.

We cannot control what other people do or how they respond to us, or whether they give us what we want. The good news however, is that we can control our own opinion, we can control the view we take on what happens to us, and therefore we can control how events affect us.

We should spend our time then, mastering our point of view so that we respond to what happens positively, constructively and productively, because then we are more likely to keep working towards our goals despite adversity.

So the next time we don’t get the part or the meeting or the funding or whatever, we should take a moment or two to collect our thoughts and select an opinion about the events which helps us to keep progressing rather than one that will discourage.

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