Say some unpleasant event, such as a car accident which you feel indirectly responsible for leaves you feeling unwell. You are tortured by the thought that you caused injuries to your passengers.
Your mind keeps playing alternative scenarios: if you did not wake up 3 minutes later than usual, you would have avoided the car accident.
It was not your intention yet you have guilt.
How do you get rid of a persistent throb from a situation like this?
Don’t try to willingly avoid thinking about it: this will almost certainly backfire.
A more appropriate solution is to make the event appear more unavoidable.
It was bound to happen, and it seems futile to agonize over it.
According to Taleb: patients that spend 15 minutes everyday writing an account of their daily troubles feel better about what has befallen them.
This leads me to conclude with one of my favorite prayers, the Serenity prayer.
God grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, courage to change the things I can, and wisdom to know the difference.
This prayer was credited to American theologian Reinhold Niebuhr (1892-1971). The Serenity Prayer was later adopted and popularized by Alcoholics Anonymous and other Twelve Step programs.
I was introduced to the prayer about a year ago when I would watch this YouTube live-streamer that would have one of his buddies from his Twelve Step Programs come and talk on the livestream. They would often say the prayer and I remember it being so short but holding such a strong message.
It is such a good prayer and takes less than 10 seconds to say.
Many people including myself, when first introduced to the prayer might not have known what serenity means.
The definition of serenity is a state of being calm, peaceful, and untroubled.
(Ideas from Nassim Nicholas Taleb & Serenity prayer origin) as well as ( Serenity definition)
-BH
The Black Swan Blog 
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