“It is more human to laugh at life than to lament it”
Seneca, On Tranquility of mind
What do you do with sadness? What is the advantage of being a victim and surrender? We all face obstacles that are outside our control. If we have applied our best efforts and at the best of our capabilities and nonetheless things went wrong, what will be our reaction? Great people have great spirits. Great investors are prepared to face hurdles and adversities that happened out of their reasoned choice. The best reaction is to laugh at things rather than complaining or blaming someone else and criticize. What was Mr Buffett’s reaction when interviewed after Kraft Heinz went down significantly writing off its good will, cutting the dividend and so on? I always saw Buffett laughing when mentioning his “many mistakes”. A long successful journey requires a big portion of mistakes. It’s a 18 holes golf course. If you want to get to the clubhouse you got to play them all. The good and the bad. If you don’t train yourself in keeping up your good spirit, anger or hard feelings will take control of your mind. Don’t let them. Never. Even when dealing with the outcome of a mistake or a poor decision don’t let anger dry up your reason. We all face bad decisions. Was it a good decision for Buffett to stay for twenty years in the textile business when he bought Berkshire in 1965? Tranquility of mind and a lot of good subsequent acquisitions fixed a bad financial decision that he now remembers with a smile. If you can’t laugh at things because it seems too hard try at least to smile and move forward.