It’s easy to become disappointed with humanity each time you step into your car. Not even because of how angry and aggressive some drivers are. Or from the amount of litter you see on the side of the road. The slow, clueless drivers who needlessly cause traffic are sufficient.
Who are these people? Who gave them a license? What is their problem?
These are the kind of questions you could say—or scream—from behind the wheel. That’s one option. Or you could try the modern version of a question Marcus Aurelius would ask himself each time he encountered a frustrating or incompetent person: Is a world without bad drivers possible? There are over 1.4 billion cars on the road worldwide, isn’t it likely that some of them might be poorly operated?
So you’ve met one, so one of those cars is in front of you now. Is that really so surprising?
A better way to drive, to understand these people, is to understand that the world is a diverse place. Some of us are good at many things, some of us are good at only a few things. Some of us are wonderful people and terrible drivers. Others are courteous, alert drivers who are complete monsters at work or home. Others are just bafflingly inept at basically everything, for whom life must be completely overwhelming and difficult.
Prepare yourself in advance for the reality of this diversity. Better yet, come to appreciate it. It makes the world interesting, and even if it didn’t, there’s not much we can do about it anyway. There will always be people like this or that. There will always be people to shake your head at.
Get used to it.
Today’s email is sponsored by Beekeepers Naturals, the company that’s reinventing your medicine with clean, effective products that actually work. Beekeeper’s Naturals has created a whole hive of products packed with immune-loving essentials so you can feel your best all day, every day.
Beekeepers Naturals has great products like Propolis Spray and B.LXR. Propolis Spray has natural germ-fighting abilities and antioxidants—and no refined sugars, dyes, or dirty chemicals. And B.LXR helps you stay energized, on task, and focused all day long. It doesn’t have any caffeine, so you don’t get jitters, and its science-backed adaptogens support clear thinking and a healthier brain.
We’ve worked out an exclusive deal for Daily Stoic subscribers: receive a free B.LXR pack and pay just $5 for shipping! Visit BeekeepersNaturals.com/Stoic to claim this deal—it’s not available on their regular site. This deal is only good for the month of March. If you don’t love the B.LXR, you get your $5 back, no questions asked. Try it today!
P.S. This was originally sent on March 25, 2021. Sign up today for the Daily Stoic’s email and get our popular free 7-day course on Stoicism.
