Introducemydog: Degrees of predictability and LSD

"It is easy to see that life is the cumulative effect of a handful of significant shocks."--Nassim Taleb, The Black Swan: the impact of the highly improbable.

I look back over my life and it's more obvious than ever that change comes in "a handful of significant shocks" rather than a gradual progression. It seems like the moments that had the biggest impact, changing the course of my life forever, were the most unexpected.

Neo was completely unexpected and had a majorly positive impact on my life during a time of pain and confusion. Nothing about how he came into my life is normal. I have never been religious but I have no doubt we only experience a small sliver of reality. I will tell you what happened, not what I believe. Think of it what you will. The truth is that it has resulted in changes in myself unimaginable before.

My mom said she prayed to my grandma to help me. On October 24th, my grandma's birthday, Neo was born upstairs from the basement suite I was renting. I didn't ask for a him. I wasn't looking for a dog.

The landlord offered me a puppy from the litter. They said they only cared about finding good homes. It wasn't about the money.

I didn't think I would accept the offer at first. I didn't have much money for dog food and even though I have had dogs growing up, I'd never raised one from a pup. I had doubts, mostly in myself and of course my family kept warning me of all the consequences that come with having a dog to care for. Bless their hearts.

So I did what any depressed, anti-authority, early twenties millenial would do. I ate some LSD.

Whether it was a true hallucination doesn't matter and I may never know, but the drug 'reminded' me of a pre-birth deal with the soul who would be Neo. We had agreed (apparently) to partner for mutual development at this particular time. Now, I've always been a science type so this was a very unusual experience for me, to say the least. Think what you want. It suffices to say that my mind was altered by the trip. I knew I had to take the offer or I'd regret it for the rest of my life. So on the third month after the birth of the litter, when all but two had been taken, I received this little runt.

Since then we have been on many adventures and he has taught me many things.
Here he is on the bus...

and with a childhood friend.

Our journey together continues. He is now five years old and we live a two minute walk from the city's best dog park. He has many friends and I think I'll take him there now. We have the first snow of the year and I know he'll love to bite some snowballs and run around like a maniac.

I guess my point of all this is humans can't know the future. It hasn't happened yet! There are only possibilities. We may believe we can predict the future but we can't in any meaningful way.

The events that matter, that shape our lives and the world are always a surprise, so enjoy what is now.

As a currency trader with five years experience under my belt I know how easy it is to deceive myself into thinking I can predict the market and there are definitely degrees of predictability possible, but the most profitable movements, the most influential events are always unexpected.

I remember this whenever I feel afraid or angry with the state of the world. When I despair and get pessimistic about visions of a seemingly impossible better world I remember, who am I to think I could possibly know what will happen? What arrogance do I possess in saying that I am sure of the future? There is always hope! No matter how dark things look, your life could change for the better at any moment. Don't forget it!