Terrace House is a Japanese reality TV where 6 young guys and girls are just given a house, a car, and left to do their own thing. They can go in and out of the house, live there for however long they want, and every time a new housemate comes in, about 0.8 seconds after first introductions they love to ask them is, ‘So, what’s your type?’ (of guy/girl)
And the answer often comes back:
おちついてる (‘o-chi-tsu-te-ru’)
(Someone calm).
In the western world, calmness isn’t ever mentioned when it comes to ‘What do you look for a in a guy/girl?’, But it could be the most positive and healthy one for someone to work towards. (I’d also argue a good one’s ‘Someone who’s indifferent about everything’ but maybe that’s just me.)
The ancient Romans called it ‘Ataraxia’ and if you’ve got ataraxia, or おちついてる , or plain old calmness, you can not only deal with anything, but know that it’ll pass and maybe even use it to your advantage. Knowing that stuff you can’t control is nothing to worry about.
It takes constant practice but The Good Life is perhaps one where you’re calm before, during and after any trial, difficulty or challenge that life chucks at you.
And maybe working at it every day, it’s possible to eventually be like Kobe.
To be like Kobe before, during and after anything that happens to you or anything anyone does to you, or anything that comes up that’s out of your control.