When Chaos Rears It’s Ugly Head, Get Back To The Basics By Gaining A Wider Perspective!
You see, life is all about perception. To train the mind is to teach it how to make things appealing, trick it, manipulate it and to impregnate every thought with the purpose of love and happiness. It’s like a machine that’s powered by optimism and positivity. When you keep it well maintained, it is capable of improving on it’s own and becoming self-sustaining. When you set it free, it is able to navigate a world of endless possibilities and value. Every achievement evokes larger and more frequent than it’s predecessor once you learn and acquire the proper mindset. Your mind becomes a magnet for which all it produces, whether it be a good thought or a bad thought. When you take this into consideration, your perception is immediately shifted!
I remember one time in elementary school, we split up into pairs and created a two-tiered ecosystem out of 2-liter soda bottles as a class project. The top half was the home of a miniature garden and the bottom half was an underwater habitat complete with fish and foliage. We were responsible for regulating the sunlight which controlled the rate of growth for algae. This environment was completely self-sustaining! The water from the aquarium evaporated into the upper level. This aspect of the well-oiled machine kept the soil enriched in order for the gardens to grow autonomously.
The nutrients from the soil would trickle back down from to the fish as well, each aspect keeping the other thriving. This ecosystem is similar to the relationship between yourself and your mind in the sense that one feeds the other and vice versa. Imagine freeing the system within those bottles and watching it morph into it’s own life-sized world! Free your mind, open that bottle!
“Investment in travel is an investment in yourself”
— Matthew Karsten
Traveling the vast world that we cohabitate allows for so many new experiences such as different traditions, food, music and dance. When one encounters these foreign settings, one’s mind becomes exposed to things that allow a shift into new perspectives. One’s mind will eventually reject contamination from popular opinion, society and mass media because it will have seen for itself, first hand, how the “nouns” of the world exist within their own little sectors. I intend to ingest all of these new experiences like the coldest, sweetest mango on a hot summer day.
I wish to gain the most thorough perspectives on life as possible in order to regurgitate the most educated wisdom one could possess because viewing the world through a screen or vicariously through other people’s experiences can be a mindfuck sometimes. It’s similar to judging a book by it’s cover. These experiences may seem more (or less) desirable from a different perspective because the perception derived comes from the heart of one’s personal experience. Like seeing delicious appearing food but once you taste it, you become disappointed and underwhelmed, perspective IS influence.
I’m originally from Florida, home of the infamous “Florida Man”. I’ve seen a lot, experienced a lot, and most definitely smelled a lot! However, even just travelling one hour outside of my immediate surroundings can seriously alter any of those aspects. Just imagine how different every crack and crevice of the massive Earth is!
One could say life moves in three directions. Up, down, and sideways (stagnant). This is comparable to the Forex Market; price moves in these three same motions. Even though the Forex Market is obviously an inanimate object, I learn many skills by maneuvering it that I am able to apply to life. I believe everything in life is cyclical. The Forex Market also tends to repeat itself and be a creature of habit.
There are tools and clues you can use based off of previous price in order to predict, adjust, and hone in on where it may be headed. One’s contributions also help to drive price in the direction of your prediction, just like life’s “Laws of Attraction”.
If one becomes greedy or hasty, they will surely be humbled by the markets; but when one observes patiently and makes the proper choices, they are heavily rewarded! In life, everyone faces adversity. Some have mastered the art of overcoming adversity or recovering from it. Once one reaches this pinnacle, they no longer see these occurrences as losses because they have the skills to acquire or rebuild whatever was perceived to be lost, or better.
It’s the same in Forex trading. A trader is not defined by how many losses one takes because losses are inevitable. A great trader is defined how they recover from their losses and consistently protect their capital. Even the best traders in the world do not know exactly which ways the market will move and when. They are prone to adversity as well!
For the average person in this metaphor, profits would be considered wisdom. One must protect and retain the knowledge and wisdom because this is what is necessary to recover from losses, the capability to apply previously learned lessons. The bottom line is protected by having the know how to culminate the desired outcome over and over again. I call this “getting back to the basics”; throwing the semantics out of the window and getting to the grit.
I learned at an early age the definition of empathy. I was taught in the form of “The Golden Rule” aka “Treat others how you would want to be treated”. It wasn’t long after that I realized I would never be able to gain an accurate perspective without any personal experience invested in the individual scenarios that may occur. Situations tend to shift perspectives once there are any emotional attachments or personal connections involved.
For example, most may be unaffected by a car accident that they did not personally witness or get into themselves. Car accidents happen all of the time, right? They’re pretty common. But the instance that accident involves oneself, a loved one or an acquaintance, it suddenly becomes more earth shattering, more emotional, and personal. One automatically begins the quest for answers, “Am I/are they ok?”, “What condition are they in?”, “Will they be ok long-term?”, “Is the vehicle repairable?”.
Many questions that would cease to exist had the person lacked any personal connection with the victim. Someone unaffected would simply feel bad and carry on about their day engulfed in the events that DO affect them. I tend to inject this outlook when I learn of a scenario that most would passively sympathize with. I apply the empathy I was taught as a child in order to be kind or offer support however possible in the moment.
By doing this, I do my best to live by The Golden Rule. I treat others how I would want to be treated if the tables were turned and I was faced with the task of walking in their shoes. One may not always have the exact answers readily available, but when we use this philosophy and search deep within ourselves to establish that personal/emotional connection, instincts take over.
Even though the actions or words may be lacking, we have the ability to understand from the viewpoint of others what it is they are feeling and why they are feeling that way. PERSPECTIVE! Once we gain it, we are able to view things differently, as if we are the affected party. This allows us to process the adversity or situation and apply the lessons, feelings and advice in a whole new fashion instead of from a limited point of visibility. A perspective that cannot possibly have what another may be experiencing in view. Everything we say and do can improve with the smallest smidgen of extra perspective.
When one is able to transmute and apply the lessons learned from adversity and perspective into all areas of life, one realizes everything tends to improve for themselves AND those around them. Differences, disputes, and touchy subjects diminish. Anxiety dissipates and decisiveness permeates one’s mind. I implore you to gain a wider perspective and notice these lessons. Learn how to apply them in all settings and empathize with everyone, ESPECIALLY those you do not care for. I can guarantee your days will seem much brighter, you will become more hopeful and continue to inspire the world around you by simply adopting a larger perspective!
