Posts Tagged ‘rising to the occasion’

Carlos certainly seemed powerless. Two armed men had invaded his home. He had no weapon. He had no avenue of escape. He had a terrified six-year-old girl in tow.

Oh yeah … and Carlos was seven.

But the California youngster simply did what the Stoic philosopher Epictetus advised in the first century. “Make the best use of what is in your power, and take the rest as it happens.”

He grabbed a phone and his little sister, hid in the bathroom, and called 911. By the time the gunmen—who’d broken in and threatened to kill their parents—found the children, police were on their way. When the home invaders realized Carlos had called for help, they fled.

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