Wednesday, February 20, 2013

The most dangerous time of all.

     Think you've got your life all figured out? Know how it's going to play out from here? More ho hum boredom? You've seen it all?
     I just finished reading a book called Black Swan by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. It was all about how we can't possibly know what's coming, and if we think we know, we put ourselves in the most vulnerable position of all.
 
     Sure, it's human nature to project and predict. But the reality is we're really not very good at it. In fact, were downright bad at it.
     Some people say life never changes. It's all the same. But Taleb uses the example of a domesticated turkey. Day after day it's given its food and water. It thinks, 'Hey, this ain't too bad. Life is a-okay.' But then a certain day comes along. Thanksgiving Day. That's the turkey's Black Swan. 
     Isaac Bashevis Singer wrote (in his novel Shosha): "Life is full of surprises. If a person thinks no more surprises await him, it's only because he has shut his eyes and doesn't want to know."
     You don't know what's coming. Either do I. But let's keep our eyes wide open to see the surprises that are on the way!

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