Never Complain, Never Explain

This quote is attributed to Henry Ford II who had more wives than Henry VIII and ran Ford Motor Company.  Successfully.

The point is don't look back and don't bitch. 

I just got off the phone with an acquitance.  An acquitance is almost a friend but not quite.  Anyway, I like the guy.  High school education, Vietnam vet, worked at a bunch of jobs, saved some money, has two kids doing pretty good, owns his own house, cash he can get his hands on quickly--about a million.  Hey, pretty good for a working man.

But everytime I talk to him I know that somewhere along the line he will bring up his BIG, STUPID investment.  Seems he invested a big chunk of money--$250,000 or so--into the dot.com deal through a broker with a big name investment firm that will remain nameless.  Went up to about $750,000 and my friend/acquitance sold.  Got out, clean and simple. 

And then got back in.  He blames that move on his wife which must make things a little tense at home because the $750,000 went to $100,000. 

It crawled back up to about $300,000 and he got out.  But he sure hasn't forgotten about it.

Each time I talk to him I try to steer away from the dot bust and back to his kids, his IRA, his paid up house, his rental houses, his great investment in San Diego townhouses but no, the talk always centers around the dot deal and that son of a bitch broker.  My friend expends a lot of energy on that guy who, surpise, got cashiered out of the investment business and is probably in jail right now.  Which is probably a good thing for him since I'm sure my friend would blast him away with a M-16 if he had one.

We all make mistakes, pass on good deals, invest in bad ones.  I should have bought a house in San Francisco when I was three but I didn't.  The real thing to avoid is betting the house on one deal.  Or if you do, be ready to lose it all and walk away.  People that buy businesses or start a business, do this all the time.  That's fine but be ready to lose everything and be ready to start over again.

The only thing I fault my acquintance for is ignoring the good and concentrating on the bad.  It is the human thing to do but try and avoid it.  It is a waste of energy.  Take that energy and focus it elsewhere.

You won't always be successful.  I'm not for sure but I try.

Finally, things could be worse.  When Margot and I went to France to set her up there at school we took a sidetrip to Normandy and Omaho Beach.  Think Saving Private Ryan.  It was a cold, blustery, damp and miserable morning.  Standing on the beach I looked out at where those soldiers had to get out of the boats and where many died.  I turned to Margot and said,  When things really get shitty, think of those guys. 

That will get you through just about anything.

Comments

[Rory]

Good post, I'm reminded of Rudyard Kipling's "If" specifically the lines:
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two impostors just the same;

and also...

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it all on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breath a word about your loss;

Full poem: http://www.swarthmore.edu/~apreset1/docs/if.html