The illusion of loss

It's funny you know, when we don't have something, but have the opportunity to get it, it's exciting and thrilling. If we don't get it, that's okay, because we never had it. But when we do get it, what's the emotion that courses through us? Is it still the excitement of achievement & ownership, or is it fear - that we could lose it again?

But we never had it to begin with.

Why are we hardwired this way?

What if we were okay to lose it all, knowing we can always have it all back? Well again, it's in our wiring. And this is why. Try this example, interested to see what your answers are (comment below)

Example 1:
You are given $1,000. The person who gave you the money offers you 2 options.
Option 1: You are guaranteed to win a further $500 - So you'll have $1,500
Option 2: You can flip a coin, with a 50% chance or either winning another $1000, or you keep your $1000 (so either $1,000 or $2,000)

What would you do? Take the $1,500, or take a 50/50 chance of getting a further $1,000 or not?

Example 2:
You are given $2,000. Now the person who gave you the money, offers you 2 more options;
Option 1: You are guaranteed to lose $500 - so your balance will reduce to $1,500
Option 2: You can flip a coin, with a 50% chance of not losing anything, or you lose $1,000 (so you end up with $1,000 or $2,000)

What would you do here?

Well, I can give you the majority response;
Example 1: Take the guaranteed $500 profit, so you increase your bank by $500 to $1,500 - because it's something you didn't have before.
Example 2: Flip a coin to try and not lose the $2,000 you were given.

I'm sure most of you realise this is the same question, just asked in reverse. You see as hard-wired humans in this western world, we're tuned to protect against loss. To the point where, we'd take a risk to not lose. Yet when we've got something, we take the conservative approach to hold it. We weren't born with anything, so whatever we have, we've earned & taken risks to acquire, so what is different?

It's this fundamental human conditioning that whole industries have been built on - Insurance companies, bookmakers & gambling agencies - they know people will chase financial losses and fear loss of assets.

If we just remain present to the fact that whatever we've earned will leave us, whatever we've acquired will break down, leave us or be lost. We came with nothing, and there's no magical doorway into our next journey that allows us to carry these things. Regardless of your spiritual belief, the only thing we know will remain with us through life, is the experience of living. These 'things' we acquire along our journey are simply trinkets to remind us of our path, and teach us more about ourselves.

They're nice to have, they just don't define who we are.