It’s a really a fine fine line that separates investing from gambling – there are more similarities than differences. Investing can be gambling when it taps upon one’s irrational greed for more gains, such that we tend to be quite one-sided, looking only at potential profits. All we gleefully want is to win big, while we ignore with eyes wide open that there is at least a 50% possibility that we might lose the principal sum.
It’s sad to see families agonise over their monetary losses. Perhaps it’s not so much grief about the money per se, but the fact that the staked and lost was hard-earned. This led me to think – are we using the wrong yardstick to measure our happiness – by our material wealth? In this current financial crisis, it’s high time we change that mindset, by paying attention to other invaluable sources of wealth in life – such as being loved and being able to love.
THIS crisis will be over… as well. It is OVER once you let go of your losses, by accepting them. There is no need to suffer any longer, and life still goes on. Life is certainly worth more than 100K or even a billion. So, the next time you contemplate investing/gambling, ask yourself this… Are you prepared to lose it all? If not, please don’t even think about it. However, if you can’t resist the urge, the safest “bet” would be to practise to be reborn in Amitabha Buddha’s Pureland, where the ultimate GAIN of enlightenment is truly 100% guaranteed!