In regards to the situation in which an individual appears to encounter misfortune at every turn, we don’t have enough context to accurately specify the moral worth of his character in its totality, nor in any specific case. Is the misfortune in his life to be attributed to a lack of awareness, an un optimized belief or value system, or the result of ignorance? In any of these cases the individual could’ve made adjustments to provide the grounds for better results, to a degree, depending on the more detailed context of the situations in which misfortune manifests itself.

Anytime someone finds themselves in a situation where it seems the world is crumbling around them, they should make damn sure it isn’t crumbling due to any fault of their own, because it often is. An exhaustive introspective reflective analysis is necessary to rule out any character deficiency, or methods which could produce more beneficial results. Oftentimes it is the lack of fulfilling of potential that can account for the misfortune which appears to mark our lives, and it is in the course correction that we alleviate our lives. If lack of awareness, or immorality, is found to be the root from which travesty springs forth, it is in the moral shame acquired in contemplating our inadequacy, transferred into moral dread of repetition, that naturally allows us to habituate ourselves to better handle problems of a similar domain in the future. This habitual course correction in terms of the punishments of conscience goes unconscious often, but it can be made explicit, through a mindful analysis, and thus be consciously reiterated to provide the means for a better navigation of novel problems.

In the alternative case, if the individual truly isn’t culpable, and they conclude “well I just won’t do anything since anything I do has a net negative influence on the world”, then they are surely naive, in that this type of claim is missing the significance of opportunity cost, in that the mere recession from the world is itself an action that implies the giving up of responsibilities and duties. The retreat from action implies the negative moral connotation of the opportunity cost of doing so, in so far as an individual has personal responsibilities that effect other people, whether it be in familial responsibility, or societal, and just in general in his duty to leave the world a better place than he found it. In relinquishing responsibility and duty, in retiring from the world, you are simultaneously resolving to relinquish the potentiality of doing good, being virtuous, affecting others and providing something beneficial and useful to your fellow man, to your family, to your general circle of influence.

No matter how much misfortune may appear to be manifesting from one’s actions, if it isn’t one’s fault, conclusively, then the diligent striving forward should be the response. Everyone faces misfortune, and it takes experience and practical wisdom to learn how to navigate it. How do we make peace with a life marked by misfortune, how do we best work to solve the set of all problems, and in doing so, make life worth living? This is a perennial question, how do we navigate the misfortune and suffering of existence? It would be quite a lengthy job for me to attempt to articulate an answer to this, but honestly, I think it would be in everyone’s best interest to attempt to articulate an answer to these questions themselves. To anyone who values the truth, who is seeking for ways to counter the malevolence and suffering inherent in the world, who wants a better life, a more moral life, the degree to which we can cope with such existential ambitions is in direct relation to how we are able to meaningfully provide an answer to these questions in regards to the wisest way to organize one’s life.

All in all, regardless of the content of one’s experience, and the apparent misfortune that marks it, I believe we should strive on diligently to fulfill the potential we all contain. Things only have “meaning” or “value” in the effect they have to sentient beings to life, naturally we value things based on our orientation to them, which we do through our inherent perceptual system, that is, preconceptual attention through the perceptive body, and we act out these values and meaning in every moment, whether were cognizant or not. It is due to the ability to have experience, that this meaning or value, the time we spend, the things we do, have moral significance. The actions we take can affect our and other sentient life’s experience, and due to that potential of affecting experience, for better or worse, we develop morality.