I recently experienced sciatica for the first time. Boy, was it painful. It came on suddenly one morning and by the end of the day I could not get up a three-inch step.
I have never experienced pain like it. That said, the physical pain was easily dealt with – keep still, pain killers, heat on the affected area.
But with the pain came suffering as my mind ran wild. Without hesitation I started imagining all sorts of doomsday scenarios – I was crippled, I would not be able to play with my kids again, bathing and toileting would be a problem, the house would need adapting, wheelchairs …. it went on and on.
In the moment it did not occur to my egocentric intellect that this episode would pass. It felt like this was it, for life.
Reality kicked in the next day. A night with an electric blanket cured me. Panic over.
On reflection I realised that the shock of something new and unexpected happening had put my mind into overdrive.
The pain was a temporary physical sensation and easily dealt with. But the suffering was my personal mind catastrophising. My personal mind was utterly useless, it produced no useful strategies or thinking – it was Google that suggested the electric blanket.
And what has this to do with financial planning?
I have been through numerous market ups and downs over the last 25+ years, I have lived and breathed every moment of them. They used to be painful and, by allowing my mind to compound the pain, I would suffer too.
I am now accustomed to stock market hysteria and clearly see the truth that every episode is entirely temporary and will pass. All falls have always proved temporary.
I therefore experience little pain and no suffering – I am 100% certain of what comes next.
The “pain” of investments is that they often fall in value. The “suffering” is us forgetting that the pain will pass.
Pain is inevitable and manageable, but the suffering is all our own doing.