Ask HN: What inspires you to persevere through adversity?

This is important, and why it is ok to say it IMO, and I'm glad GP did. It's an honest and real response.

I know that I'm not, statistically speaking, entirely possible. I'm "supposed" to be dead, in prison, on drugs, homeless, and a missing parent, on welfare, and pretty much every other not-great thing I could be.

When someone sits in front of me and judges me unfairly, I can be upset with them and feel like I need to work harder to fit in with them, or I can simply be happy that they will never understand the person they are talking to, and for that, I should be grateful for their naivety and for the fact that I accomplished enough to even talk to them in the first place. I can choose to go home and be angry, or I can choose to go home and continue working and seek out people that matter. It's all about mindset: talking to this person, in isolation, was a failure, but the fact that I got to sit in that chair is the culmination of all of my prior hard wok and victories.

If there is one thing I've learned over and over again, adversity is only as permanent as you want it to be. This doesn't mean your dream job is just around the corner; it means that no matter how low you go, you can always do one thing better to improve every single day, and that adds up. Consider your options, learn to walk tall and walk away from bad moments, and understand that the definition of insanity is trying the same thing over and over and expecting different results.

There's a free copy at http://classics.mit.edu/Epictetus/epicench.html

Sample:

"Remember that you are an actor in a drama, of such a kind as the author pleases to make it. If short, of a short one; if long, of a long one. If it is his pleasure you should act a poor man, a cripple, a governor, or a private person, see that you act it naturally. For this is your business, to act well the character assigned you; to choose it is another's."

It has some interesting similarities to Buddhism but is, in my opinion, much more suitable for engineers. There is a strong emphasis put on logic and understanding the world around you through science. While ancient stoics did base some parts of the philosophy on religion, it is no where near an essential part of the philosophy, whereas buddhism is slightly more difficult (though far from impossible) to decouple from mysticism.

Epictetus is a great source, as are the writings of Marcus Aurelius and Seneca (the younger).

I have a huge problem with the way some of these drugs are over-prescribed. But I have an even bigger problem with stigmatizing people who are availing themselves of a resource that might be of help to them.