Another red day for alts by the looks - are you buying or selling?
I would like to be buying, but all of my disposable income is entangled with the renovation, as we are trying to make up for shortfalls by driving as much as we can from our salaries into the project, so that come January, we aren't too far behind. This is far from easy this year, since I was furloughed a lot for 4 months and my own business has taken a very large hit due to a lack of face-to-face sessions.
While I am still hoping to keep my unbroken run alive and not use any crypto to cover life obligations, if I do have to, the lower the price goes, the greater the percentage bite it will take out of my holdings. So, to mitigate damage, it is reduce obligation as far as possible on one side and, cross fingers on the other. I have to come to terms with the potential that I won't be able to reduce exposure, there may be new unexpected expenses and of course, value of my portfolio will keep dropping.
I think that this while on average a lot of people will benefit from crypto, there will always be the unexpected circumstances that come up to cause pain - either through a lack of preparation or luck. Life is full of surprises on both sides of the equation and we have little control over some aspects of experience, like personal illness or the health of those around us, those we are obligated to serve.
For example, before my daughter was born, my wife and I were doing pretty well financially and starting to get into a position where we could save. Post-birth, this changed rapidly due to our daughter's health issues. While the direct costs were one thing that exacted a heavy toll, the knock-on effects it had on other aspects of our life, my wife's health, my work opportunities and a position of not only no savings, but debts to service - had far longer ranging implications.
I was doing the math on this the other day, and the likely "cost" of opportunity was an eye-watering amount. My conservative estimates would put it at potentially a 25% pay cut over a 3 year period, with last year being the point where we reached back to our zero point and started building again.
Unexpected circumstances are so costly because of their unexpected nature of course, and unless very well prepped or having a large amount of excess resources coming in often, they are always going to hurt. When there is no safety net or fallback position to rally against, it is either "do or die" and nearly without exception, humans try to do, even if they end up dying.
Of course ideally, one hopes to be well-prepared for most eventualities, but that is not always possible and for probably most of us, we do not invest enough time, effort and resources into our preparation. It is interesting that we are by nature risk averse, yet we do not see the risk in not investing, which I think is probably the far greater risk, as it means that we are more likely to end up living more hand to mouth and even the slightest discomfort becomes painful.
As much as there are large swaths of the last 4 years I would have preferred my family not to have experienced, I do think that we all learned something. When my daughter was in the ICU, I remember having a discussion with my wife about whether there will be some kind of latent effects of all the needles and tests on our daughter, that while she wouldn't remember, would influence her in later life in some way. It will be impossible to tell, but it isn't outside the realms of possibility itself. Since she has already experienced it, all I can hope as a parent is that she is stronger for it, not weaker.
Antifragility is the concept of getting stronger under pressure, not staying the same or breaking. Yet, I don't think we often willingly look for the pressure to harden us and instead, we tend to avoid. It is natural of course, but maybe this is why the randomness of luck is so valuable, as we don't have the ability to avoid it, it just happens to us and all we can do is try to cope.
Some are more successful at coping than others, some are much less successful than the average. The thing is that like everyone being "good under pressure" until they are actually under pressure, most don't have a very good understanding of how they will react in adversity, unless they have already faced it.
Through the course of my life, I have got to know many people at a deep level who fall on both sides of the equation and while no one wants pain in the future, there are some who fear it strongly, others who understand that it can be a part of life and back themselves to cope with it well and perhaps even benefit from it.
There have been several times where I was very close to losing my life, with the first being when I drowned as a child. While I was glad I was revived, I realized as an eight year old that death is nothing to fear, or at least, I am not that afraid of it. I think this frees me up in some ways, though I still don't like heights.
The thing is that while we can and in my opinion should prepare for bad times, we can never be fully prepared and the unexpected can always happen. It doesn't really matter whether one is investing into a highly volatile market, or smoking playing Russian roulette with cancer, with 4 in the chamber. - random happens - good and bad.
Today while the markets are red or tomorrow if they are redder, there will be people buying and selling. Each group will see it as an opportunity to get something out or invest something in and each will hope that they make the right call. If it keeps dropping, the sellers will be happy, if it starts climbing, the buyers will. However, the question is whether the long-term position is higher than today and who will hold something when that arrives.
Five days, months or years from now might tell a very different story as to what was the right decision to make - but each will have their own account of the past. It doesn't really matter where one is though, because humans will always find a way to justify their behavior, no matter how good or poor it might be today.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Posted Using LeoFinance
You've spoken really well and I'm glad you didn't drown back then
I'm afraid of heights but since I choose not to be afraid of death or whatever
I'll gladly go skydiving or bungee jumping.
While reading this post,i realized that i needed to invest in crypto and investment generally because things can happen anytime and I have to be prepared.
As a growing young man, freedom and independence are key values
For me I'm investing in gaining knowledge of the blockchain technology so that i can have value
Have you skydives before? I would like to have the balls, but I am not sure I could. I am not sure if that is actually a justified fear due to the totally unnatural nature of the circumstances. :)
Invest or kit invest, it is best to at least make the decision as informed as possible, so whatever happens, you know you did what you could for a good outcome.
I haven't skydived before but i watch a lot of extreme sport and I would love to try one day and probably with a lot of safety around so nothing can go wrong.
As soon as i grow financially,
I definitely would start investing.
What do you think?
It is never too early to build the habits and mindset for investing. Don't wait til you have enough, just have something that you can afford to lose. What I have found is even the smallest amounts change the way we feel and think about things, so it is worth doing it early.
It took me about 10 month after starting on Hive that I bought my first crypto with fiat. It was about 200€ worth and got me about 250 tokens (then Steem), the same amount now would get me about 1200 :)
What I discovered though was while I had far more stake than I bought even at that time, it was at that point I became an owner and investor.
!ENGAGE 20
ENGAGEtokens.I don't think most people are prepared for the reality of a serious health issue and the cost associated with it. My income for two years was pretty much halved due to inability to work. I could have given up and just filed bankruptcy and went on welfare, but I was still young and still wanted things even though i was seriously ill. So I had to sell my truck, and get an economical car this resulted in much lower car payments, and paid off in two years even with the medical bills. I had that little piece of shit car as I referred to it for almost 15 years, even after I had recovered and my income recovered and I could afford a new one. it was a reminder of what could happen.
I think their is an advantage to almost dying in younger years, we understand the immortality concept a bit more than those that breezed through life with out a care. We know there is very little to fear in death, so we have develop very few regrets as we age, (or at least in my case I had very few regrets about life).
When a persons first real tragedy is in their mid 30's I don't think they have the coping skills to understand they are no longer immortal, that the prospect of death scares them almost to the point of death. Once they make it past that first scare though things do seem to improve on life's outlook.
Some things you just can not adequately prepare for, that is when you need to reassess and try to find solution you may not have thought about, or do not really want to do. (like selling your brand new cool truck at a loss to buy a piece of shit car that is more economical).
Perhaps this is why a lot of people get calmer with age - as they have likely faced death a little ore and realized, it is okay, may as well live while there is life.
I have seen people have their first breakup at 30, their marriage, and they responded like a jealous fifteen year old. As expected.
I think it is one of those character building exercises everyone should experience - forced into assessing the value of what they have valued.
At the end of days, you have had an interesting life that no other has lived.
!ENGAGE 20
How else will we be shaped than to endure the bad times. Your drowning was simply not your time to go and it made you stronger. As far as our friend death is concerned, I have been encircled by it for so many times in my life, losing everybody, direct family, friends and associates, that it simply does not bother me anymore.
Was it perhaps co-incidence that I posted a new red flower found in the sea today? A message from the ocean perhaps? That there will always be ups and downs on the waves of life, but that life goes on?
Who knows?
I think that part of the issue in the developed countries is that death seems rare.
I will come and look at the red sea flower :)
Oh yeah, I have had experiences of shocked people around a grave when the realization of death hits them.
Amazing that people refuse to entertain any thoughts about death.
You know that you are welcome and I will roll the "red" carpet out for you! (There's that color again)!
!ENGAGE 20
Thank you @tarazkp
This has to be one of my greatest fears about life. Unexpected occurrences. No matter how much we plan, prepare and save for those 'rainy days', the moment they come, they always hit us like a storm. But like you said, we either 'do or die'. Life, always, is worth living.
Too often it feels that we are finally getting ahead, and then the next unexpected thing arrives. It is like they have visibility on the bank account and engineer a cost to bleed it.
We always make it through though. With less money and more life.
!ENGAGE 20
You are correct, people will always justify their actions. It's good to be uncomfortable tough and think about personal mistakes rather than justifications, in order to improve the future and the mindset. If you never make mistakes and improve the behavior, how could anything change? I think it must have been difficult to be a parent and witness your child going through so many difficulties and I can respect the incredible amount of mental power required to remain well balanced in life. Have a great week!
Maybe part of the issue is that the mistake has to be acknowledged and the justification may soften the blow of seeing it as a mistake.
Parenting is awesome. Awesomely scary at times too.
Ah I think it must be the biggest challenge to be a parent. I heard that it doesn't come with a manual hahaha. Which are the biggest concerns for a parent? How about the biggest rewards? I am single now but I sometimes try to imagine how would I cope with a mini version of me. It scares me just thinking about it hahaha
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Today my buy orders triggered. Now what remains is hoping for a rebound in price.
I have a few that are still a bit lower, but hoping.
What we're seeing today is nothing we can't recover in a few hours or even minutes when the tide turns.
I have to wonder though when you should pull the buy trigger. Is 10 cent HIVE still in the cards if BTC plummets further?
It is always on the cards and I give it a small chance of happening, especially if someone with a fat wallet and matching fingers triggers a sell.
I wonder how much of the trading is done with bots.
I would say a massive amount is. Some of the large coins are supposedly 95+ percent wash trading and it would be impossible to do it manually. That, and the instant simultaneous movements across exchange platforms.
!ENGAGE 20
I've learned some of the lessons :) I certainly could have done better with my investment strategy, and probably should have. I removed my 'nest egg' to try a new business 3 times. I got close to being right all three. I can wish I had more, but don't regret a thing.
I learned a thing when my daughter died. I learned that I can never be hurt that badly again and I survived. That pain can never be reproduced in my life so I'm good to the end.
We're weird you know? Most fear dying. I have no wish for it but also no fear of it. It's out of my control.
I am sorry about your daughter, I didn't know that. I count myself lucky to not have experienced that, but I have done what I could to prepare - though it is impossible.
We are defined by out hardships, not our successes. Some become bitter and never recover, some become enlightened and never suffer. Neither position is painless.
When it comes to investing, better to have tried and failed, than to have failed without trying.
I absolutely agree with all of that.
I heard the little voice in me say "If not you, who?" I knew I'd be ok
!ENGAGE 20
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Posted using Dapplr
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