The Postscript: Throw out the empties

A fellow I know was grousing about the past year.

His birthday was coming up and he felt, once again, that this year failed to meet his expectations. He was unhappy with the year, unhappy with himself, unhappy with the fact that he’d even allowed himself to hope that 2020, of all years, was going to be better than the previous ones.

“My caring isn’t going to make any difference in how things work out,” he told me. “When I step back to accept that reality, maybe I’ll stop thinking any of it matters.”

He was unhappy with the idea that he’d gotten his hopes up at all. He seemed to feel that expec...