“The hardest lesson is to recognise that not every earthquake is a disaster; some simply shake us loose from the wrong branch.”
— The Sage
The Sage has noticed that we have an understandable tendency to judge disruption by how uncomfortable it feels. When something familiar suddenly changes — a relationship, a job, a plan, or simply our sense of certainty — our first instinct is often to call it a disaster. After all, when the ground moves beneath us, philosophical reflection rarely tops the immediate agenda.
Yet not everything we cling to deserves such loyalty. A branch may feel secure simply because we have been sitting on it for a long time. Familiarity can masquerade as safety, and sometimes it takes an unexpected earthquake to reveal that what we were desperately holding onto had stopped supporting us long ago.
The Sage therefore suggests judging life’s upheavals partly by what becomes possible afterwards. Being shaken loose can be frightening, but it can also force us to look around, choose differently and discover firmer ground. The earthquake may not have arrived for our benefit — but wisdom lies in recognising when we can make something valuable from where it leaves us.
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The Sage Page 