If our emotional responses were directly caused by specific external circumstances, then we’d expect everyone to react the same way to any given problem. But that’s not what we see. Consider Giovanni, who recently came out of a tough divorce. Some of his friends have also been through something similar, and though they all feel a great sense of pain and bitterness about their circumstances, Giovanni simply doesn’t. Instead, Giovanni talks about what role he played in the divorce, what he has learned about himself in the process, and how to make himself better as a result. Stoicism can help us practice the attitude that seems to come naturally to people like Giovanni. This week, we’ll focus on one such technique.