Thursday, July 07, 2011

Life goes on

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 This is Matisse.
We wish he'd learn to relax.

There's a saying on Wall Street: "The market climbs a wall of worry." The metaphor describes a paradoxical, counterintuitive principle: there are always looming threats, risks that should cause any sensible person to avoid venturing a penny on investments. Somehow the future bad news gets priced in. More often than not, the investment works out.

It occurs to me that's not only true of investing, but of life. There's always a wall of worry. The media enable us to gorge on everything that's bad and going to get worse. The news is mostly a collage of everything scary and depressing. It's hypnotic, insistent. If the news were all that happened, it would make no sense to carry on.

But most of the time, all that is only background. Our challenge is to acknowledge it, do what we can to "take arms against a sea of troubles" -- and keep it in proportion. Sometimes it touches us, usually not. Meanwhile, every day offers un-newsworthy miracles: beauty in countless forms, an unexpected smile from a stranger, the trust of a mate or dear friend or pet, creating something new with whatever talent we were given and developed. The wall of worry is real. So is the climbing of it.

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6 comments:

yih said...

LOL @ the pic caption. I think you'll like this series of pics too:
The most useless cat in the world :D

Rick Darby said...

YIH,

Sorry, your link doesn't open for me. Try again?

Thanks, Rick

yih said...

Oops! Sorry, links can be a pain at times :/

http://www.odditieszone.com/the-useless-cat/#43

If nothing else cut 'n paste. It's a series of five pics, the last on is the best.
BTW, saw your comment at Mr. Roach's blog, too true. It can be difficult to either do posts that don't mimic others blog posts or seem like your rehashing stuff you've vented about in the past.
At least you seem to be able to avoid that, it's what keeps it interesting.

Maria said...

Are you a "cat person" Rick? If so kudos. I've never really gotten along with "dog people" and I've always gotten along with "cat people."

Strange, huh?

David Foster said...

A dog's diary and a cat's diary

Rick Darby said...

Maria,

Yes, I'm a cat person, and my wife is also, perhaps even more. It's one of the factors that have enriched our marriage. We wish we could have more than two cats, but that's all our present circumstances allow. Some day, if possible, we'd like to live with ... oh, four or five.