Dec 05 2011

“All-in” is more than a poker betting strategy

Warning: adult content; some disturbing ideas.

Your bet on life has already been made – and it’s not a bluff. You likely don’t recall making the bet, but due to some confluence of luck and circumstances you’re here in life. And, if you’re reading this, you have learned to read or you’re sufficiently alive to have someone else think it’s worthwhile reading it to you.

Most people don’t live like:

1. They are in and of life.

2. Life is much bigger than them and will continue after they are no longer here.

3. They do not know when their part of life – their opportunity to contribute to life and others – will end.

The sand is running through the hourglass of your life. You can measure what has accumulated in the bottom but you never know how much sand is left to run through… or how many lumpy bits are left… or if one of those lumpy bits could block the rest of the sand (that you hoped was there) from running through. The very next tick of the clock could be the last one you hear.

You’re in life and the clock is ticking. It’s like the movies with all the wires coming out of the bomb and the red numbers counting down in the digital display. Except for each of us the numbers are counting up, not down. We don’t know how much time is left on our digital timer. There may be lots; or there may be very little. It may be lumpy or it may be smooth.

You are “all in” with life. Stop living like you don’t know this. There is no “pause”, there is no “wait a minute”, there is no “redo”. There is, however, an “off” switch – you just don’t know when the switch will flip from “all-in” to “off”.

How therefore shall you live? What will be your approach to life? There are many horses that you could bet on in this race to the finish line (what’s your hurry?) Some supported by multi-billion dollar marketing campaigns, some virtually unknown long-shots and many in between.

You could bet on the briskly prancing acquisition strategy with the purple saddle cloth. Cars, houses, money, fancy new wives, yachts – get as much as you can in the time you have left.

Another good looking one is the smartly decked out bucket list mare. Instead of acquiring things, acquire experiences: sky diving, bungee jumping, swimming with the sharks (the real ones), Machu Piccu, Stonehenge.

Or you could bet on an unknown horse starting on the outside – listed in the program as fulfilling life with What-2-Honor in the saddle. There are several others in the field but these seem to be the most attractive ones.

Your bet is already paid – you are going to pay with your life. Spread your bet around and you get a disheartening ennui.

The question is, On which horse are you betting with the rest of your life?