There's a funny thing about living through "crazy times." Everyone thinks theirs is the worst. (1) But history doesn't have golden ages - it has people doing their best in difficult circumstances. The Stoics lived under Nero, Socrates lived through the Thirty Tyrants (3), and humanity has always been run by a mix of fools, fanatics, and the occasional decent person trying to do good anyway. The constant hasn't been the chaos - it's been how people respond to it. That's the real test.

I've had my share of personal storms too. Back when I was a young man, working for someone else, I hated what I did every day. The work was tedious, the environment toxic, and the people weren't much better. I couldn't control the boss or the company, but I could control how I handled it. So I focused on learning, improving, and quietly preparing for my future. That mindset changed everything. I stopped being a victim of my situation and started building the skills that would let me create my own.

Then came the Y2K crash. My first business went under when the tech bubble burst. Everything I'd worked for was gone in months. Apparently the only thing that didn't crash was my stress level. I could've sat there blaming the economy, the market, or bad luck - but that wouldn't fix anything. So I pivoted into training and consulting. It wasn't part of the original plan, but it ended up being the best thing that ever happened to me. Sometimes life kicks you in the teeth to make you move.

That same lesson applies to health and fitness. I can't control how my joints feel some mornings or the fact that aging brings slower recovery and nagging injuries. But I can control my consistency. I can lift a little lighter, stretch a little longer, and still show up. The days I feel weakest are usually the ones that matter most. I also can't control having lost vision in one eye a few years back, but I can control how I move forward. It just means I have to be extra careful making left turns. Unlike Derek Zoolander, I actually can turn left... just with care.

It's true in relationships too. You can't control how other people act - only how you respond. You can't make people kinder, or more thoughtful, or honest. But you can be those things yourself. You can decide where your boundaries are, who earns your time, and what kind of person you'll be even when others fall short.

And since I can't resist tying this back to Microsoft Access - same principle. You can't control it if your company refuses to upgrade the network, or give you a proper SQL Server back-end. Complaining won't make it faster. (2) What you can do is design smarter. Split your database, optimize your queries, and make the best system possible within the limits you've got. The Stoics would've loved Access: it's all about working within constraints.

In Star Trek, Spock faces a situation completely out of his control. The Genesis Device is armed, the countdown is running, and there's no way to stop it. He can't control Khan, he can't control the weapon, and he can't change the clock. But he can control what he does. He walks into the radiation-flooded engine room, fixes the warp drive, and gets the ship out of danger. He doesn't waste time raging at the unfairness of it. He simply does what needs to be done. That's the lesson. You can't control everything around you, but you can control your choices, your actions, and how you face what comes next.

That's the heart of it. You can't control the world, but you can control yourself. Focus on what's in your power. Improve what you can. Accept what you can't. Do good work, take care of yourself, and don't let the assholes make you one too. That's the modern version of Stoicism - and it still works. And when worse comes to worst, fix the warp drive and engage.

LLAP
RR

(1) I'm sure even cavemen were complaining that the mammoth shortage meant the end of civilization.

(2) Trust me, I've tried yelling at a slow network - it only makes the router blink in pity.

(3) The Thirty Tyrants were a short-lived but brutal oligarchic regime that ruled Athens after its defeat in the Peloponnesian War (404 BCE). When Sparta finally crushed Athens, they installed this group of thirty pro-Spartan aristocrats to run the city. What followed was one of the darkest chapters in Athenian history.

The Thirty were led by Critias (a former student of Socrates) and Theramenes, though the two quickly turned on each other. Critias became the dominant figure, steering the regime toward open terror. They executed, exiled, or confiscated the property of hundreds of Athenians - especially those who had supported democracy or had wealth worth stealing. Estimates vary, but ancient sources suggest over 1,500 citizens were killed without trial in a matter of months.

The irony is that Athens, birthplace of democracy, became an authoritarian police state almost overnight. The Thirty disarmed the public, staffed the city with Spartan troops, and created a smaller "approved" citizen body loyal to them. Their rule lasted less than a year. The exiled democrats regrouped under Thrasybulus, marched from Thebes, and retook Athens in 403 BCE. Many of the Thirty were killed, and democracy was restored - remarkably, with an amnesty that forbade revenge killings.

Socrates lived through that period, and it deeply influenced his thinking. He refused to participate in the Thirty's injustices (they ordered him to arrest a man for execution, and he refused), which likely contributed to why the restored democracy later distrusted him. So while the Thirty Tyrants fell quickly, they left a lasting moral and philosophical scar on Athens - and helped shape the Stoic and democratic ideas that came after.