Any event that disrupts the status quo can be seen either as a threat to things as they are or as a challenge to invent a new future. When we cling tightly to things as they are, any change looks like a threat. When we are open to new possibilities, change is seen as a challenge. Challenge is the correct way to view an inconvenience, and inconvenience is the incorrect way to view a challenge. People committed to their jobs, who find meaning in their experience or suffering fare better than people who don't.
Control is the greatest paradox of all.
Experiments in rats show lack of control leads to ulcers and the inability to reject cancer, and in humans to anxiety, depression, and defects in the immune system. Yet when we try to control everything in our lives, we lose sight of challenge because everything looks like a threat. Overcontrol leads to frustration, anger, and guilt. The Roman philosopher Epictetus noted that we would be forever miserable if we failed to distinguish what was controllable and what wasn't. Thy will, not mine, be done.