Thank-You.

Yes, it was quite the painful ride that MIKR put me through. In the short time that I've written in this journal, I've gone from the thrill of victory,


to the agony of defeat.


Fortunately, tomorrow is a brand new day. The challenge now is to put that painful experience behind me quickly enough so that I can become focused and mentally sharp for tomorrow's market open.

While I was attempting to pick myself up off the mat, something unusual happened tonight. I received a sincere and kind gesture of not sympathy, but empathy from someone within this stock blogging community. The kind gesture that I received came in the form of a gift. In all honesty, I have underestimated how much we are connected to each other (in a community sense). Sometimes I feel disconnected from this community. But regardless of what I feel, the fact that I chose to make this trading journal public meant that some part of me wanted to reach out, connect, and hopefully have an impact (on someone). This "want" came to pass, only not in the way that I had expected, but obviously better than what I had imagined. There is always a part of me that is somewhat uneasy about accepting gifts because when I was growing up, I was instilled with a "repayment" mentality in the sense that any act of kindness or gift received must be repaid back in full. So when I received this "I feel your pain" act of kindness, my first thought naturally was to think about how can this gift be repaid (like providing more website traffic, referrals, praise, etc). However, what I have learned after I grew up is that this repayment mentality actually defeats the whole purpose behind the act of kindness. A true act of kindness or gift giving asks for nothing in return. So I will just accept this gift with the deepest heartfelt, gratitude.

The great Yoda once said, "Do, or do not. There is no try."
There is nothing like receiving an act of kindness to motivate me to do better, to be a better trader to the point where I can pass along to someone else the same kindness that I have received today. To the giver - Thanks again.