Investments and Dividends

The bottom line is the “I” in me is very strong. It makes me want to mold the world to fit my comfort level. It makes me want to surround myself with people and situations that agree with me. It makes me want to run away from anything that will reveal my flaws.

I will vote for Barack Obama. That is my investment. I’ve taken the time to know about him, his plans, and his policies, similar to the way I’ve taken the time to research stocks, clothes, and professional basketball teams to spend time rooting for. At a certain point after having done my research, I make a choice.

If that choice turns out to be unprofitable (according to my own definition of “profit”), I will regard the research as wasted time and will be unhappy. Life is about pursuing happiness. If I am unhappy, that is not about life.

There is no such thing as not making a choice. Even when I refrain from choosing, I have chosen not to choose, which is also a choice.

And so when I do choose, I make sure to safeguard that choice. Just as I avoid driving on roads that are full of potholes so as not to expose my car to unnecessary damage, I do the same with sheltering myself from damaging information regarding that choice.

Now that I have decided to vote for Obama, I will probably subconsciously avoid roads with potholes, to save my emotional tires. I will not watch Fox News, even though they may show information against Obama that is factual and verifiable.

Will I ever turn my back on truth, or go against my natural instinct? Will I ever support an idea that I know is wrong?

In the past, I have driven my car when I knew it was too dangerous to drive because the transmission was broken. Because time was inconvenient and money was short, I kept driving it. Because I couldn’t afford to accept what needed to be done, I pretended that everything was fine.