This blog is a repost from Farnam Street, but I found it extremely impactful.
Most problems come from our internal state.
When we are internally calm, we reason and then respond; we don’t just react.
When someone slights us, we don’t lash out. We turn the other cheek.
When someone cuts us off, we give them the benefit of the doubt.
When things go slower than we want, we wait patiently.
When someone is passive-aggressive, we refuse to take the bait.
At our best, we put behavior in perspective—both other people’s and our own. We do the right thing, not the easy thing, regardless of influence or pressure.
A calm mind is not the absence of conflict or stress, but our ability to cope with it.