222 – August 10
“The world breaks everyone; then some grow strong in the broken places.”—Ernest Hemingway
You will have down days. Remember this page and come here when you have one. Maybe today life sucks. So go ahead and bemoan your state. Weep. Wallow. “Blow winds and crack your cheeks! Rage! Blow! You cataracts and hurricanoes, spout till you have drenched our steeples, drowned the cocks!” rages the mad King Lear. You, too, are entitled to your rage. Call up a friend and complain. (Ask for permission before you start dumping, though. You don’t want to rain on someone’s good day.) Try not to redeem all of your complaint coupons with your friends today because you may need them again. You’ll want them to be there for you when you do. Too often, and you might become one of those perpetual complainers that no one wants to see coming.
One afternoon, I went to meet my Wild Women Writers group for lunch. I was having a bad day: Mercury was in retrograde, my computer wouldn’t connect me to the Internet, someone called to cancel my workshop. I had a headache, and was basically in a complete funk. When I got to the restaurant, I nursed a coffee waiting for the others to arrive. When they straggled in, it seemed like a blue Monday for everyone so I asked, “Can I be bitchy now?” Squeals and sighs all around as everyone relaxed into that great tension reliever: whining. We ate comfort foods—chocolate cake and ice cream. It was great. We let it all hang out so we could jump over it later.
Jumping over it, climbing, crawling, or sliding over it later is the key. For whining and complaining you only get one hour, one afternoon, or one day. The end. Then back to positive affirmations, sending out ships and counting your money tomorrow. That’s what successful people do. You stay under your bedcovers for longer than one day, and you’re setting up a new habit. And this habit is the “Why-me-God-it-isn’t-fair-everyone’s-a-winner-but-me-I’m-a-loser” habit. One day is okay—it’s an aberration, a field trip to Loser Land, nice to visit but you wouldn’t want to live there. Two days of this and you’re in trouble. But everyone’s entitled to a little whine for one day. Enjoy it. Revel in it.
Then get over it.
Today’s Affirmation:
“I am perfect just the way I am.”
What’s going to happen next with the stock market? This is what it’s important to remember: “Buy low, sell high”. Not vice versa.
The stock market goes up, the stock market goes down. It reacts according to the psychology of its investors – and that’s you and me. When we get good economic news, we feel good, we buy, and it goes up. When we get bad news, we get scared, we sell, and it goes down. The smart people invest when it goes down and sell when it goes up. Respond to the math and not the emotion – over the long haul, the market always goes up. Time to invest!
