Self Mastery - Mindset

There is a Chinese proverb which goes;

“塞翁失马，安知非福”，”塞翁得马，焉知非祸”

A quick translation, "an old man lost his horse, it maybe a blessing in disguise" , "old man gain an extra horse, there maybe an impending disaster"

A detail background to this Chinese proverb goes:

An old man lost his horse as it went wild and ran away. His neighbour came to console him for the lost. But the old man instead calmly said that this is a blessing. So, months after the horse ran away, it came back with another horse. His neighbour now came to congratulate him for gaining an extra horse. But the old remarked instead that this is a disaster. True to what he said, his son fell from riding this new wild horse. Broke his leg and became a disabled person. His neighbour again came to console him for this bad fortune that befell on his son. The old man unmoved and said that this is a blessing. A year later, a war broke out and all abled man are drafted into the army. The lost is great and many man lost their lives. His son who was disabled was not drafted into the army and was spared. Both he and his son were able to live a peaceful life.

The lesson learn here is that sometimes a lost can be a blessing in disguise. Something good happened may take a drastic change in fortune. In short, good happenings may take a bad turn to become a disaster and bad happening may lead to something good.

So, when all things goes well, do not take it for granted as things might took a nasty turn. And when things are going south, stay positive as you may likely to find an opportunity in there.

This has happened in history time and time again. A good example is how the richest Chinese Li Ka-Shing made his fortune. In 1967, Hong Kong properties prices plunges as a result of Cultural Revolution riots in China. Confidence in Hong Kong future has plummeted. Things looks bad. But Li staying positive that this is only temporary and bought many properties at rock bottom prices. Properties prices did eventually rises.

A similar event has happened in US which we know it as the subprime crisis. Things are looking good in pre-2006. Economy is booming. You can get loan easily to purchase the house of your dream. Causes for it varies.

One important lesson learned here is that things looking may not be actually good and things can turned south. This is to stay cautious when things are good. On another note, one should stay positive when things looks bad. The economy will probably be able to recover from this crisis as there are still many sectors in the economy that are doing well. So, properties is probably a good buy now. Then again, one should stay caution and use the usual common sense and other usual methods to find out whether a property in a certain area will rises again in the near future.

Stay cautious when things are going well. Stay positive and look for opportunities when things aren't going well.