Keep Calm and Don't Move Your Stops.....

A little risk management saves a lot of fan cleaning!

The Purpose of Life is Joy!!

Tuesday, January 16, 2018

Find the sacred

This last weekend, we went to a mountain community in Northeastern Arizona. It is a cowboy town for sure and I am a big city (sort of) kind of guy. My brother in law lives there and recently purchased a new home with an incredible view from the side of a mountain.

We got there Saturday around noon and spent the afternoon just chilling on the front deck doing nothing. It was magical.

Sunday morning I got up at my regular time around 5AM, made some keto coffee and sat in the front room to watch the sunrise through the panoramic windows facing the view. The moon was up in the night sky but it was in the east and around 7AM the sun began to come up and it was behind the moon. The picture of the moon illuminated by the sun was just incredible.

Watching this in the dead quiet of the morning is a wonderful reminder to just stop and be in the moment and experience the wonder of the world around us. I did the same thing Monday morning and its just awe inspiring.

It was a deeply moving reminder to find the sacred in everything....because everything is sacred.


Saturday, January 6, 2018

Reflections 2017

I like the process of planning, or reviewing what went well and what went badly throughout the year. It appeals to my logical brain while at the same time, my emotional side connects easily with the losses and the successes. This year is no different and 2017 was a very different type of year for our family.

This year marked a new season in our life. As I wrote in last years reflection post, 2017 did in fact, produce new and exciting changes for us.

In no particular order;

1. I FINALLY graduated college at age 48. I have spent 30 years pursuing this and it finally happened.

2. As noted in last years post, I began working at a national bank as a mortgage lender. That process took longer than expected but the results were exactly as expected. I've made more money in the few months I've been working there than I did my entire trading career.

3. We started our own Christmas tradition for our little family of three. We took a Christmas trip and had a very wonderful time. We spent three days in San Diego which is only three hours from us but feels like the other side of the world sometimes.

4. 2017 was the year of for lack of a better description, spiritual awakening. I discovered so much more about my spiritual side that I can't really even put it in words. Nevertheless, I'm tremendously excited about the possibilities going forward.

5. A side effect of the spiritual thing is improvement in some of our relationships. Over the last few years, a couple of long standing friendships had soured for some reason. We are not real sure why but over the last few months, those relationships have begun to normalize and we are very grateful for that.

6. Over the last 90 days, I have begun to return to my roots as a trader. That is, a scalper. With employment income to pay the bills, this has become not easy but easier for sure. I really only have time for about 60-90 minutes in the morning at the most for trading and on the days I trade, I'm really only looking for 10-20 ticks a day at the most and I'm happy if I leave with 5-10. The purpose is not to hit home runs but try to hit singles every day that I trade. I don't have time for longer holds or to wait around for the big move of the day to set up which often happens long after I've left the trading screens.

7. My health has improved. I began intermittent fasting in July and lost 10 pounds almost immediately. Since then the wait loss has slowed to about half a pound a week and I don't exercise or anything like that. In total, I've lost about 20 pounds, +/- a bit. More importantly, I gained only 2 pounds over the holiday season and I've already lost those. This year I intend to create a work out space in my garage and spend at least 30 minutes a day in there if possible.

8. The last half of the year, I developed a meditation habit. Slowly at first but nearly every day now as I have come to rely on it for the quiet time I need and to develop the inner strength for the things I wish to accomplish. In truth I've almost become addicted to it. This will be a major theme for 2018.

9. We've been looking for a house now for over 6 months. Nothing in the neighborhood we wanted has been in our price range that entire time. We did find one in November but they sold it out from under us at the last minute. In December, the perfect house became available, I called immediately and the house is ours and we move in mid February. We are quite pleased about that.

10. In 2017 as a result of focusing on the good and having a positive expectation and as a result of #4 above, I've become very sensitive to negative inputs in my daily life. So much so that I spent a fair amount of time eliminating toxicity from my daily experience. Its harder than you think. We are surrounded every day by negativity and it takes daily effort to remain in the place of positivity. But as I have learned, we choose the reality we live in. And I have chosen to live with a positive expectation of good. This means I watch very carefully what I look at on tv, the books I read, the content I allow on facebook, etc. Once you become aware of these things, you see them everywhere. Of course you can't eliminate them entirely but you can minimize the effect they have on you and that is what I have done and will continue to do in 2018.

Cheers and here is to a fabulous 2018!