1. Yielding joyfully is the best way to cope with events beyond your control.
This is a tough one, but well attested in philosophies East and West. Raging against that which you cannot change is a futile exercise—"banging your head against a brick wall." Such only hurts you further. Better to accept, yield to events, and find an inner joy.
2. When things reach their extreme, they alternate to the opposite.
What goes up comes down. Night turns to day. This is the principle of change, of yin and yang, of complimentary opposites. Nothing remains the same, and with patience you can wait out the difficulties.
3. You can't go wrong with the virtues of gentleness, humbleness, honesty, and sincerity.
In no circumstances will these virtues fail you.
4. In most situations a brilliance can be uncovered if you persevere.
Every cloud has a silver lining, so they say. Like most proverbs, there's more than a grain of truth in the sentiment. We can look for the good in the most difficult situation.
5. What is considered a problem can become a source of strength.
Here's an example. In my professional world, we live by the maxim "publish or perish." You have to produce "peer-reviewed" publications. Peer review is a process whereby articles you submit are read anonymously by other scholars. If the reader thinks your work is not of adequate quality, they say so in a report and your work is rejected. It's happened to me more than once. It can feel pretty devastating, and the temptation is to move the rejected work to the trash. However, I've learned to make the reviewer's report a source of strength as my writing and argument can be improved and resubmitted for publication. It's all in the way you look at it.
The key to understanding this ancient wisdom is to recognize our own responsibility for our reactions to the events we can't change. Poor responses and wrong thinking can leave us stuck in the mud of life.
Be well,
+Ab. Andy