Good And Bad Or Bad And Good?

We’ve experienced a number of disasters lately, both courtesy of nature and of our own doing. It’s upsetting and challenging. It’s human nature to shy away from such things. Call it survival instinct. When it comes to natural disasters, we realise that there is a force greater than ourselves. We are not in the control we thought we were. It’s disempowering. But when we scratch beneath the surface, we realise a different power we have access to. We may not be able to overcome nature, so to speak, but if we dig deep enough, we can overcome our fears and act in heroic ways. Examining accounts of heroic human endeavour, the people involved will often tell how they just reacted. They didn’t sit down and think about how they were going to handle the situation, some deeper force kicked in and they just got on with the task of being a hero; of forgetting about self and risking their life for another. We saw this with residents battling flood waters in Queensland and people returning to buildings to save others during the Christchurch earthquake.

We also bear witness to this this during the upheavals that we as humankind like to wage upon ourselves. War results in mass loss of life, destruction of homes, and decimation of land, both domesticated and wild.These battles can be looked at on a macro level, but also in the micro environment of individual turmoils. Do we create these situations to feed our own ego? Or is there are greater importance to be bestowed upon them? One could ask if there really is good or bad. Are things just as they are and it is just perception which gives them the decided label? If there is truth in the taoist law that everything must be in balance, surely there must be good in bad and bad in good. I remember reading, “The Gates Of Fire” by Steven Pressfield, an historical novel about the Battle of Thermopylae. Here the Spartans, arguably the greatest warrior nation on earth, knowingly sacrifice themselves for the sake of Greece. At first glance this seems an horrific waste of life. But one also gleams from the event the greatest that human nature can provide. The standout for me in the story is not so much the blood and guts, but the comradeship, self belief, sense of duty and being one with your fellow man that was born out in the Spartans’ final assault. 

I also saw evidence of this in the story of Dr Izzeldin Abuelaish. A Palestinian doctor, whose three daughters were killed in an Israeli air strike on Gaza, Dr Abuelaish has written a book called, “I Shall Not Hate”. He has been a voice of compassion and forgiveness during a time when most would resort to hatred and revenge. 

Would there be a hero the stature of American Greg Mortenson if there wasn’t the misery of poverty? Greg Mortenson has dedicated his life to building schools in Pakistan and Afghanistan to educate children, especially girls. He tells of his endeavors in his books, “Three Cups Of Tea” and “Stones Into Schools”.

Would we be enjoying the lifestyles we do today if war had not forced the development of technologies?

On a personal level, would we be the people we are if life didn’t throw challenges at us? Overcoming the adversities of daily life can make us stronger and muster the self belief which might elude us if not fought for.

Hardships can bring about the very best of human potential. I am not advocating war and violence. I pray that we become enlightened enough to create such positive results without such violence and harm to others. Our struggles should be our own, not ones we force upon each other. I do believe we should be grateful for our lessons though. It’s easy to be grateful when all is smooth sailing. The challenge is to be grateful when it’s not. Are we strong enough to do that? Are we capable of doing that without violence and disrespect to ourselves and others?

When Bad Trading Turns Good

I remember being in the dealing room when 9/11 occured. Needless to say it was frantic. News was disjointed and contradictory with traders not having all the information they needed to keep the market under their control. As a trader managing other people’s money, this is a dangerous position to find yourself. So, the best course of action during such momentous an event? Cut your positions. I had to help many clients do this. There is no other course of action to take. It’s not your money to risk. I recall there being outrage at the time from the public because traders had been “playing the markets” and profiting from the deaths of innocents. Of course, there must have been a bit of that going on, but let us not group everyone under the same banner. Those same people could have very well lost their whole pensions if traders hadn’t acted quickly. It was similar during the recent global crisis where anyone who had even the smallest role to play in the world financial system was labelled “a banker” and tarred with the same brush as the small percentage who caused the whole debacle and who, of course should be strung up and left to rot. It’s easy to generalise but not always helpful.

My point? One action need not be all encompassing. There are bankers and there are bankers. There a ways of trading, and my argument is, there are also ways of trading! What if trading could turn a bad situation a little bit good? I’ve always advised people to buy bank shares. Why? It’s not because I’m a lover of banks. Indeed, I find myself in the boxing ring with one as we speak! However, if banks are going to rip us off, why not buy some shares and get some money back via a fat dividend? 

To take the point further, let’s look at the world’s current trials and tribulations. Oil is a good example. The price of this most sought after energy source continues to escalate, in line with the strife in the Middle East and North Africa. The nuclear fiasco in Japan will probably see them need more oil as well to make up lost energy supply. Should traders be buying a rising commodity, the main reason for which it’s rallying being the defiant Arab people who are being killed for their troubles? Some would say this is immoral. Now, trading is like gambling and nothing is ever a sure bet, but some risks are less than others and you can be pretty sure that energy prices will continue to climb, at least for the time being. What if trading off other people’s ills (as many would like to see it) could actually help them? What if some institution was “moral enough” to buy energy, make a profit and give the majority of that profit to the people who are being so negatively affected by the event causing the gain in commodity price? Of course, to take that risk, an institution would want a cut, and that’s fair enough, but most of these big boys are making pretty healthy profits at the moment. I think they could take a bit of a risk.

You also have some big regimes in the Middle East turning their fat oil earnings morbidly obese at the moment, but let’s be honest, I can’t imagine them giving any to the “common folk” who they are actually in battle with, but why not play them at their own game?

The biggest problem I see is politics and with big business, financial institutions and governments all in each other’s pockets, I can hardly see this happening. With our addiction to oil, it was always going to come to this. It’s never healthy to be an addict, whether it be drugs, other people......or oil. Maybe finding an alternative energy source is our only hope. If nothing else, we can only hope that these sorts of world events bring the agenda forward a bit. It wouldn’t hurt any of us to tread a bit more lightly on our planet and green energy would be a good place to start. We’re going to have to face the stark reality of oil running dry at some point, so why wait?

The Quest For Happiness...

What is happiness? Are we really meant to be happy? Is it a sustainable state of being or a fleeting visitor that is supposed to come and go?

I heard an interview with famed author David Malouf today, and it got me thinking and asking more questions than usual (More? Is that actually possible?!) We are always told that happiness is our natural state of being. If we are happy, we know that all is right in the world. I mean, it must be true. There are thousands of books out there telling us this is so. I guess that then prompts the question, why are there thousands of books out there on how to be happy? Surely if it is our natural state of being, we should know how to achieve it without the help of a book. We in developed countries in general have it pretty good. We live in relative safety. Are allowed to think and say what we wish. We have education, healthcare, sanitation and a welfare system.  Our standard of living is higher than it has ever been. But how many people, when asked how they are reply, "Super!"? Usually it is more, "Ok" or the robotic, "Good. How are you?" You may even get, "Oh, no use complaining. No one will listen." Have we become so spoilt and indulged that gratefulness just doesn't gel with us anymore? Are we too obsessed with our own self importance? Perhaps we really are just pointless balls of energy and this is certainly something we do not wish to hear. How many times do we become irate that the car in front cut us off off or feel the indignation of not finding a parking spot? A parking spot!!! It seems a little absurd when there are people in the world dying from war and natural disasters. Perhaps the car spot is just the scapegoat for a deeper level of unhappiness we are not prepared to face because it seems just too overwhelming. Do we really just not know how lucky we are? Do we not understand the true meaning of happiness? Or are we just not meant to be happy, at least not all the time?

It is accepted that being happy is the goal but even with all we have, many people are not content. Can happiness equate to contentedness? Then the guilt starts to play on their mind. "I have all this and I should be happy. I feel I should be much more grateful." You see examples of this a lot, to the point that a cliche has been birthed, "Money can't buy you happiness." One may travel to the poorest countries in the world where they have nothing, but they do have happiness. Is this just because less fortunate people have lower expectations of life? Can happiness be equated with the degree to which you are resigned to your fate? Is happiness relative to your environment and not an absolute state of being?

You could also ask the question, is happiness a material state or a spiritual state? Perhaps there are just different types of happiness? Does happiness come from the desires of the flesh or from meditation on higher consciousness. Can the two be combined? Do we embark on certain journeys, be they physical or spiritual because someone else has told us that it will make us happy and we follow their direction robotically? Is happiness in doing nothing at all? 

Does happiness make us happy or is it just our quest for happiness that drives us forward? Is it the unobtainable illusion, sought by man like the Holy Grail but never conquered? Perhaps it is not meant to be. If we were happy all of the time, would we not stop striving and challenging ourselves, end the lessons we learn from overcoming adversities and impossible obstacles? Maybe this is the real point of happiness, to tempt us with small tastes but then send us on our journey of more lessons. We strive, touch but never fully embrace. The hologram of a finish line to keep us on our life path. Perhaps we are not meant to ever reach it fully. Is satisfaction of achievement, not happiness the true goal?

Fear, concern and anxiety need not be the opposite of happiness. The true opposite may well be restlessness. Why does a pea felt under a pile of mattresses make a princess? Why does an oyster require a grit of sand to make a pearl? What pushes a chicken to continue struggling until it is hatched? Why must a butterfly continuously beat its wings, almost to the point of exhaustion to release itself from its cocoon? Maybe it is restlessness and questing that is our natural state. If we were happy all the time, would we not hinder progression and growth?

What do you think?