The Equilibrium

Part I: Individuality

Chapter 1: Gift of the Present

Things may go downhill as they do, inevitably along our path. We may find ourselves in a state that is much more difficult than that of the past. However, the present will always be the smartest time in history. Not because it is any better, but because the present isn’t potential; it’s everything we have now.

With that being said, the fact that we have this sort of knowledge that no one has had in the past makes it logical to make decisions based on today’s standards. Not necessarily deviating from tradition as a whole, but respecting and taking the correct things from it.

Instead of taking knowledge from the past, we should take lessons that were learned in mistakes from the past. For we know what we know now because of the past, so our knowledge is stronger, but it can grow from the past as well.

We have a gift called the present. It will always be no matter what happens. The future will never truly happen as we see it now, it will just be the present at a different time. So, if we know nothing from the future, we can use what we know from the present and the past to direct it.

For example, we all assume that the sun will come up tomorrow, as it does everyday. We use the fact that it has come up every day of our lives to make this assumption. However, if something ever changes, this will all be altered and change our perspective.

This all seems obvious, so what am I trying to say?

Don’t assume the past is smarter than the future. Don’t assume that, just because something happened before, it will happen again. Yes, it is always logical to recognize patterns and predict, but don’t lie to yourself and say your predictions are fact.

When the future becomes the present, don’t let your assumptions oppose the truth. Because in reality, you can’t change outcomes that have already occurred. So you must instead look to the future and change the outcomes there.

The Story of the Lucky Man

There was once a man who had everything. Not as a result of hard work, but as a result of luck. On a regular occasion, he would find one hundred dollar bills on the ground, unnoticed by anyone else. He bought a baseball card for less than a dollar at a garage sale, just to find out it was worth thousands.

One time, he was shopping at a mall. A toddler fell down two floors up, and miraculously landed in his arms. He would always win in games of luck at the arcade. He would randomly meet celebrities all the time.

He eventually began to notice how lucky he truly was. He began to try crazy things just to see if he really was so lucky. When he went to the casino and went all in, he began to earn colossal amounts of money. It got to a point where he was confident enough to jump off a building. Miraculously, he was greeted by a trampoline, conveniently being moved right across where he would have landed.

One day, the man decided to buy a lottery ticket. He figured he could put his undeniable luck to good use.

Like he expected, he won the lottery. He now had hundreds of millions of dollars to his name and a luck that he was sure would never run out. However, the money led him down a terrible path. After spending a major amount of his earnings on temporary luxuries, he decided he would go back to the casino.

As he expected, he won more again and again. But the man began to get greedy. His luck seemed so strong that he could just become the richest man in the world. He began to get so attached to his luck, with no thoughts about what could happen otherwise, that he stopped caring. With no further thoughts he went all in, again and again.

Then, everything changed. He put in so much money that he most definitely couldn’t afford to lose, and he lost. He was so surprised that he had no idea what to do, so he kept playing again and again. But he continued to lose more and more money. He eventually decided to stop, after losing so much money that he couldn’t afford to live anymore. The events in his life that followed were completely downhill.

Reflection

What does this story tell us, you may ask? It proves that depending on references of the past, with direction of what may happen otherwise, can lead you down a terrible path. So instead of depending on assumptions, we should prepare for what may happen, in order to ensure welfare, no matter the outcome. You must find an equilibrium between recognizing patterns, and recognizing that they may not always be correct.

Along with this, your contemporary judgement is far more valuable than any of the past. When you find someone’s beliefs that you agree with, you should not just blindly agree with everything they say after that. Value your personal judgement, but still try to see through other eyes.