Open Yourself Up to the Risks of Life

Values, not disasters, are the goal, the first concern, and the motive power of life.

Ayn Rand. 

This implies that while people and the world are imperfect, while pain, suffering, and disasters do exist, they do not have to be and should not be the focal point of living. Too often, pain and disasters are the focus of living. Rather than spending their time and energies on the pursuit of values, they spend it trying to avoid pain, and that makes pain the focal point in life. 

If avoiding pain is the focus of life, positive action is limited. If you allow pain to

become the dominant force in life, you sabotage your ability to think, grow, and to produce. If the avoidance of pain is your focus, it becomes extremely difficult to experience the process of living with the passion and spontaneity that you are capable of.

Life involves risks. The essence of maintaining your mental well-being as a trader is taking a position in which you feel confident, while always knowing that you may not be rewarded for your work, your thoughts, and your willingness to take a risk. Even more important, when you don't win, you have to be willing to pick up and do it again. You have to be open to the pain that so often accompanies honesty and growth. The same is true of every aspect of living. 

Virtually every act in life should be an act of love, the essence of giving of yourself, but giving with the knowledge that you may not get anything in return and, then being able to pick up when you are unrewarded and give again. By giving in this way, the returns come back manifold both financially and in terms of the happiness you experience. 

You can give of yourself by using your mind, and get your return by having new opportunities and experiences available. Through your actions and efforts you bestow upon yourself new options and alternatives. You can give to yourself by taking risks in the financial markets, and receive financial benefits. You can give to others simply by opening yourself up and letting others see the real you. By dropping the self-protective shields designed to prevent people from hurting or rejecting you, and get your return from those special friends who make you feel seen and understood, who act as the mirrors of your soul. 

Opening yourself up to the risks of life may be frightening, but the fact is, there is no alternative. You will suffer pain one way or the other. There is no freedom from risk. There is no freedom from fear. There is no freedom from pain. There is no freedom from the possibility of failure. There is freedom in the acceptance of all of these as part of trading, as a part of life, and moreover, as the least important part of both.