The Black Swan
I believe that most of us tend to ask the “why me?” question when faced with an unfortunate occurrence…seldom when we hit the jackpot. It is as if we of course deserve all the good, but none of the bad.
Nassim Taleb’s fabulous book The Black Swan, The Impact of the Highly Improbable is a great read when you want to understand somewhat the nature of unpredictability.
Mr. Taleb rightly points out that society is obsessed with facts and tries to predict outcomes based on those facts. We must understand that all the fact seeking at times does not prepare us for events that happen - whether it's good or bad.
I have had some major “Why me?” moments in my life: The circumstance to which I was born (couldn’t help that one could I?), my father’s death when I was fourteen, the opportunities before me to become part of the fashion world, my failed first marriage, my internet marriage (18 years and going strong, YAY!!!), nearly losing my son, then starting BuDhaGirl. Yes, I really would say these all were Black Swans in my life.
You can see some are positive and some are negative; they have made me who I am today. And today, I have the privilege to be writing this for BuDhaGirl.
If you would have told me four years ago that I would be working 7 days a week starting an e-commerce company based not only in consumer products, but also in messaging, contemplation, and brain health, battling skeptics daily that say to me just sell the product for its fashion value, its beautiful, why complicate your life? This, my friends, is the perfect example of a Black Swan moment.
What unpredictable, unexplainable, transformative moments have you experienced in your life?