In stride

Learning to take increasingly challenging situations in stride is an invaluable skill.

I thought I’d shake things up today and ask a large language model (LLM) to define what it even means to take something “in stride” — here is a response from Anthropic’s LLM, Claude:

“To take something in stride means to accept, cope with, or handle something in a calm, composed manner without getting upset or disturbed. It refers to dealing with challenges, setbacks, or irritations smoothly and evenly, without breaking composure. The phrase evokes the image of someone effortlessly keeping pace with whatever life throws at them, like a skilled rider riding a horse in a steady, balanced stride.”

When we’re younger, our natural reaction to life’s curveballs is often one of frustration, anxiety, or anger.

As we get older and become more self-aware, I think we learn that no matter how justified these reactions feel in the beginning, they rarely serve us in the end. If anything, they slow us down and increase the risk of further error, miscommunication, or harm.

Given the option to choose between a state of mind that is flustered and a state of mind that is composed to go into battle with, I think we’d be wise to pick the latter every time.