Learn nature’s will from the ways in which we’re alike. An example: Your neighbor’s car gets hit in a parking lot, and you’re quick to say “Things like that happen.” When it’s your own car’s fender that gets crumpled, you should be as quick to say the same thing.

Ditto bigger things. Someone else’s spouse or parent or child dies, and we say it’s ordinary human mortality. When one’s own spouse or parent or child dies, one says “Oh, no! I can’t stand it!” But we should remember how we react to the news of someone else’s similar misfortune.