I think it would be fair to state that there are three kinds of gamblers. Enthusiasts, the Casual type and Non-gamblers. And for the moment, consider a gambler as someone who places a wager (makes a bet) on a sporting event, the throw of the dice, a hand of cards or a wheel with a little ball (*and yes there are other examples). And in so doing the “gambler” is entering the realm of odds-making and limited control. And when you are doing this the best you can do is to just “hope” for the outcome to be good. It is argued, by some, that you get good at gambling, that you can beat the odds. I am sorry to break the news but the math of gambling and the design of the games are made such that the “odds” are statistically against you (it is how the “house” makes its money). And while I understand that some people call gambling a form of entertainment my point for this blog is that the real issue is not whether you have fun or not – it is what/who are you betting on? Seems to me that you are betting on something you essentially have no control over and you use “entertainment” as a justification. I offer, though, to live THPL, the real bet that we have to make in life is on ourselves, not on activities that we have no connection to the outcome. The irony is that we seem more willing to bet on something out of our control than something (us) that is totally in our control. And with limited time and resource this would seem odd.
Is this a spurious argument? Is there really not a trade-off being made between what you bet on? It would seem plausible that you could be a gambler on both the tables and yourself. They have similar characteristics, don’t they? Risk, reward, chance….The characteristics of both while seemingly similar and not mutually exclusive, are actually quite different:
When you gamble on a game you feel good when you win – From THLP point of view, the issue is that you had no influence over the outcome so what are you actually feeling good about? Winning without effort, without really playing the game is empty and lacking permanence and true value. I guess you could argue that getting promoted with no justification it is also good. Not so for THPL. Accomplishments have to be earned to have true intrinsic value, and then cannot be granted or given, rather they need to be gained because of your efforts, your involvement and your spirit. And when you lose as you have everything and nothing to blame, yuk…
In THPL the practice of gambling on one’s self is commonplace. It is the nature of the pursuit. You need to believe in yourself and make bets to start down the path to THPL. It feels, at times, that it is a rather risky proposition. The reason you feel this way is that if the mission does not go well then you have to look inward, to examine yourself, to reflect on why the outcome did not meet what you had intended it to be. In THPL we call it accountability and it is a serious and hard concept to embrace. That is because when you are accountable and it does not work out you have to take the burden and blame on yourself. And while never tragic it more often hurts because we want to be more than we are and none of us like failing.
OK, so the THPL story on betting goes like this – bet on what you have control over (you), figure out the consequences of success and failure, take on the risk, deliver on the commitment and be happy with the results regardless of outcome. “lather, rinse, repeat”. It is acceptance and accountability that is the win. Once you live to this standard you are a role model for THPL.
In Scranton. Pittsburgh and Boston today - lots of miles, start of a four day five city tour. Good thing Sally is coming with me - I might be lonely without her.
And the numbers - got to the end of Sally +25 seconds + 198 pushups on 4:17 minutes, Hard work, late at night, go to love it - tests the soul……
Loving life all around town
Ciao
joe