“Don’t you know life is like a military campaign? One must serve on watch, another in reconnaissance, another on the front line. So it is for us – each person’s life is a kind of battle, and a long and varied one too. You must keep watch like a soldier and do everything commanded. You have been stationed in a key post, not some lowly place, and not for a short time but for life.” Epictetus, Discourses.

“No-one ever said it was gonna be easy” goes the opening line to the Inspiral Carpets hit ‘I want you’. Such is life. But the opposite of easy isn’t necessarily an absolutist ‘hard’. Easy or hard, easier or harder, either way, such is life. Calm and inner peace while enduring emotionally-challenging times comes when we are certain in the values that drive us, that motivate us. Sometimes they will not always be apparent in the heat of the moment: courage when you’re feeling scared, self-restraint when you’re sorely tempted. Look inwards and reflect on these values and have them ready to guide your every move.