“Anything can happen anytime.”
If I had to pick one sentence that changed my life, this is it.
I first heard it five years ago on the Waking Up App, in a talk by Joseph Goldstein on impermanence.
Joseph Goldstein is a meditation teacher and author of several books on Buddhist practice. He’s one of my favorite teachers on Waking Up. Every time I listen to him, I feel like I’m hearing something genuinely wise. And this sentence stuck with me the most.
During a meditation retreat he was leading, Goldstein slipped while walking by a river and badly injured his knee. The pain made it impossible to sit cross-legged to teach, and eventually he couldn’t even stand. Sitting in meditation, he was frustrated with himself. How could a meditation teacher be so unaware? And why now, of all times? He spent hours unable to settle his mind, until one sentence suddenly surfaced.
“Anything can happen anytime.”
He immediately felt relief. The frustration slowly dissolved, and he was finally able to sit in peace.
I fell in love with this sentence the moment I heard it. I’m someone who hates uncertainty. I want everything planned out. I’ve always treated life like a strategy game. Every step needs the optimal path, every branch needs to be simulated in advance, and every surprise throws me off.
I’ve been using this “mantra” for five years now, and I think it’s given me three things:
When things go wrong, it helps me stop blaming myself. A lot of self-improvement books I love preach Radical Responsibility. You should take full ownership of everything that happens to you. Don’t complain. Don’t blame others or circumstances. Every problem is “my” problem, and the only thing “I” can improve is “me.”
I’ve lived by that rule for a long time, and I still don’t like complaining. But living that way gets exhausting. Repeating “Anything can happen anytime” lets me share a little of the weight with the world. I still don’t complain, but I waste less energy on guilt, and I can focus on actually solving the problem.
When I’m taking action, it helps me let go of outcomes. Before starting anything, I like to imagine different results and map out the best route. Sometimes I daydream about the ideal outcome. Before writing a post, I’ll plan the title, the structure, the closing line. Even for a trip, I’ll rough out each day’s schedule.
But when I actually start, things rarely go according to plan. I used to get anxious when plans went off track. I’d beat myself up for not thinking of everything. Or when I could see the result wouldn’t be as good as I’d imagined, I’d lose all motivation to continue.
Repeating “Anything can happen anytime” helps me separate the outcome from the process. Just do my best in the moment. The result isn’t mine to control. And if I truly can’t control what the result looks like, I might as well enjoy the process. The act of creating is the game itself.
Before things happen, it prepares me for life’s impermanence. Good and bad things can happen at any time. I or someone I love could get hit by a car tomorrow. So I try to do things immediately, because there might not be a next time. The post I want to write, I write today. The person I want to reach out to, I message now. The thing I want to say to family, I say this time.
Once you accept the worst possible outcome, everything else becomes less scary. I’ve also become more accepting of low-probability and black swan events. Whether it’s COVID, the rise of AI, or whatever comes next, they were always things that “could happen anytime.”
This sentence doesn’t just apply to bad things. It applies to good things too. When something good happens, don’t be too surprised. Don’t resist it. Just enjoy it.
Every coin has two sides. I’ve actually become even more intense about planning now, trying to think through every possibility, because “anything” can happen “anytime.” But when things actually happen, I handle them with more grace.
Of course, I wouldn’t recommend this sentence to someone who’s already laid-back and doesn’t feel much responsibility. It’s like recommending personal finance books: people who love saving should read Die With Zero, and people who love spending should read Your Money or Your Life.
I like this sentence because I hate uncertainty too much, and it helps calibrate my mindset. I suspect someone who’s already too casual would just become even more casual. That’s probably not the desired outcome.
Goldstein’s knee injury brought him a lot of inconvenience. But it also gave him a sentence that would stay with him for the rest of his life.
Next time my plans go off the rails, I hope I can remember:
Maybe it’s just another gift.
Because, anything can happen anytime.
P.S. When I was writing A patch changes the game and Every side quest might unlock a new map for the Game Mindset series, I was thinking about Buddhist impermanence and this very sentence.
Further reading: All of Joseph Goldstein’s dharma talks are free on Dharma Seed. I especially recommend The Wisdom Of Impermanence, which, if I remember correctly, is where I first heard this sentence.
