Don't Complain About Annoyances

“The cucumber is bitter? Then throw it out. There are brambles in the path? Then go around. That’s all you need to know. Do not add, 'and why were such things made in the world?'" (Marcus Aurelius)

A rotten cucumber is no good to one preparing a delicious salad but to a gardener preparing his compost, a rotten cucumber may be very good. If something has gone bad, repair it whenever possible, but if not, throw it away. A rotten cucumber is without repair to the cook. He does not ponder the existence of the nuisance, so why should anyone ponder the existence of a difficulty?

The scientific mind wants to know and the philosophical mind wants to understand but good science already knows that all things break down and no combination of heat or chemical can make any good of a rotten cucumber if one intends to eat--unless one applies that rotten cucumber in another way. 

The philosophical mind already understands that nature has no need for a trashcan, so wisdom dictates considering not the problem, but another direction to take the problem. One does not contemplate the existence of the rotten fruit; instead, one shifts the use of it. He does not chop it up for salad and lament, "WHY?" 

We make life hard, even painful, by the way we think--or in most cases, don't think. 

"Don't complain about annoyances." 

There seems to be two options: avoid annoyances, or do something about them. If there are thorns on the path, complaining about them changes nothing and helps no-one. Avoid the path or do something about them, if you are able. Most people get stuck at this point (no pun intended) as they attempt to make full use every conceivable entitlement to fuel the complaint. Some complaining. Go another way. Try something different. Be practical toward the problem. Shouting about it does as much good as screaming "T!" and "H!" and "O!" and "R!" and "N!" and "S!" at the plant, who is merely growing according to nature, as it was designed. 

A solution will always be found within the range of one's own free will.