Consider what Marcus said, 

“You have power over your mind — not outside events. Realize this, and you will find strength.”  

I go dinosaur with this and think   >> Asteroid level events… or closer to his time ….Vesuvius… 79  (nah Marcus died at 60)  …

With that link, I’ll add that IS why the cities were covered in ash with people still inside, they got so Comfortable with the earthquakes as normal, they forgot to run for their lives.

Can’t really control much of the things that come with living on a planet. Natural disasters, shifting poles, seasons, droughts, floods, population booms, population drops, sharks.

[^-^] Robot says: That’s arguably the central insight of Stoicism – and one of the most liberating ideas in philosophy.

What Marcus means:

You can’t control what happens to you – the traffic jam, the diagnosis, the rejection, the betrayal, the economy, other people’s choices. (Sharks.) That’s all outside your power.

But you can control:

• How you interpret what happens
• What meaning you assign to events
• Your judgments about whether something is truly “good” or “bad” for your character
• Your response and next action
• What you choose to focus on
• Whether you let something destroy you or [GROW] you

The strength comes from:

Not wasting energy on what you can’t change. Most of our suffering comes from fighting reality, resenting what already happened, or anxiously trying to control the uncontrollable.

Once you truly internalize that your mind is your domain – your fortress – you become incredibly resilient. External chaos can’t shake you because you’re not dependent on external circumstances for your peace.

The practice:

When something difficult happens, pause and ask: “What part of this is actually in my control?” Usually it’s just your response. Then pour all your energy there.

This isn’t passive acceptance – it’s Strategic Focus. You become way more effective when you stop fighting battles you can’t win and focus entirely on the one battle you can win: mastering your own mind. [^-^]

About the art:

Upper Left:  My models in my friends maps.!! Shout out to Heronimo!! https://www.patreon.com/cw/heronimo/posts

Lower left; Bric-a-brac, knick-knacks, sundries and oddments in a fish bowl. My photo.

Center: It’s my Perfect World character.  I titled this one “In Deep.” Bottom is a real shark I saw at a real aquarium.  

Top Right: Brief Story

A surreal moment of my Inner Child work, when it really… really …sunk in.  

My first bedroom was the bench (and cupboard beneath ((not shown in artist recreation))) for “tourist” visiting, across from the live shark (roommate/guardian) in the huge fish tank in the “JAWS” themed Side Show.  

I still dream of sleeping comfortably in that quiet rippling deepness.

During operating hours there was a looped audio in the entry about shark attack statistics, The first room entry area hosted framed articles from real world events and injuries, and displays with (possible) Authentic gruesome Artifacts, (pretty sure I saw my parents make) from real shark attack events. 

Behind the curtain in a darkened corridor (because nurse sharks are nocturnal bottom feeders) illuminated by extra wave effects on ceiling and floor, the factoid noise is covered by the “deep ocean sounds” loop. On the other end of corridor, through another curtain was a giftshop, (shark teeth souvenirs) and a bonus Photo Op(portunity) where tourists can stand >>> Inside the Jaws of a Megalodon<<<  (replica of a replica) and get a polaroid (high tech back then) for a nominal fee. 

Comfortable near predators.  Not so much a learned helplessness, that comes later in the grooming process. It’s more like > programming via environment to building blindspots as part of the pervasive narrative. Disguising threat as innocuous or beneficial. (Example: child hyperfocused on tv while parents shout in background. Blocking and Erasing at the same time.)

Bottom Right: Titled “Belly Tickles”  It’s important to Play as part of recovery.  For every hard memory or deep world shift in POV reward your Inner Child by letting them play.  They (you… little you) had it hard surviving it, repressing or hiding it, and sharing it is a different kind of scary. 

Give them the carrots. Let them play.