For it is the unexpected that puts the heaviest load upon us. Strangeness adds to the weight of calamities, and every mortal feels the greater pain as a result of that which also brings surprise. Therefore, nothing ought to be unexpected by us. Our minds should be sent forward in advance to meet all problems, and we should consider, not what is wont to happen, but what can happen.
[…]
We should therefore reflect upon all contingencies, and should fortify our minds against the evils which may possibly come. Exile, the torture of disease, wars, shipwreck, – we must think on these. Chance may tear you from your country or your country from you, or may banish you to the desert; this very place, where throngs are stifling, may become a desert.
Let us place before our eyes in its entirety the nature of man’s lot, and if we would not be overwhelmed, or even dazed, by those unwonted evils, as if they were novel, let us summon to our minds beforehand, not as great an evil as oftentimes happens, but the very greatest evil that possibly can happen. We must reflect upon fortune fully and completely.
Seneca, Moral Letters to Lucilius, Letter 91
I mentioned to a friend the Stoic technique of “negative visualization” which is simply visualizing how bad things can get so you can be prepared for that eventuality and not be caught by surprise.
Her response was perhaps typical of those who subscribe to the philosophy of “The Secret”. She said, “I think that you invite from the universe those things that you think about. If you think about negative things, that will be what you manifest in your life.”
Although Christianity and Stoicism often agree, there’s a passage in the Bible that seems to directly contradict this Stoic principle.
Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things.
Philippians 4:8
However, further down in the same letter, Paul wrote:
I am not saying this because I am in need, for I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances. I know what it is to be in need, and I know what it is to have plenty. I have learned the secret of being content in any and every situation, whether well fed or hungry, whether living in plenty or in want.
Philippians 4:11-12
So perhaps Paul is taking a generally more positive view of life than the Stoics but the end result seems to be the same.
James Stockdale, when being interviewed by Jim Collins about the seven years he spent as a prisoner of war in Vietnam, said:
I never lost faith in the end of the story, I never doubted not only that I would get out, but also that I would prevail in the end and turn the experience into the defining event of my life, which, in retrospect, I would not trade.
When Collins asked who didn’t make it out of Vietnam, Stockdale replied:
Oh, that’s easy, the optimists. Oh, they were the ones who said, ‘We’re going to be out by Christmas.’ And Christmas would come, and Christmas would go. Then they’d say, ‘We’re going to be out by Easter.’ And Easter would come, and Easter would go. And then Thanksgiving, and then it would be Christmas again. And they died of a broken heart.
This is a very important lesson. You must never confuse faith that you will prevail in the end—which you can never afford to lose—with the discipline to confront the most brutal facts of your current reality, whatever they might be.
If you can somehow combine Edward de Bono’s “yellow hat” thinking (why something MAY work) with “black hat” thinking (why something MAY NOT work), then you can hope for the best but prepare for the worst.