Heraclitus spoke of the ever changing nature of the universe. How everything is in flux. I feel like our world is like this. Tumultuous and shifting we feel like we cannot sit still because we will be tossed about.

We often look at this as a warning to be on guard and be prepared for at any moment the tides will change and we will be at the mercy of fate. But reading Epictetus and Marcus I have started to gain a new insight. Because the wise man loves fate, he must necessarily love the changeable nature of fate as well. This is a hard mindset to grasp because we all want security. What needs to be remembered however is that sometimes flexibility is sometimes better than strength. Wind and rain can wear down earth and stone but the tree bends with the wind and even uses it to spread its seed further. We as Stoics should see the flux of the universe in the same way, as an opportunity. When fate pushes against you use it to your advantage. You might not always be able to create lemonade from lemons life gives you. But a mindset in which adversity is opportunity can never hurt.