Going To The Bank

When adversity or prosperity hits, where do you manage your life transactions?

One of the greatest maxim's anyone could come across, absorb, and own at the cellular level is “We suffer more in imagination than in reality.” It is a life altering maxims when adopted, and some of the big dawgs have elaborated on it:

It's not things that upset us, it's our opinions about them that does - Epitectus

Choose to feel harmed and you have been, choose not to and you haven’t been - Marcus Aurelius

You’re not lacking whatever you thinking you’re lacking. It’s your opinion that you’re deficient that is far worse than any potential deprivation. You’ve got plenty. You are plenty - Ryan Holiday

Man go fight for nonsense...wetin man go do? - Burna Boy, on behalf of the 150M Nigerians who remind themselves of this everyday

There is the Chidi breakdown of this, of course. It came about as I watched a relative spiral into near madness over a perceived slight, a slight that swirled so much in his imagination that it was all he could think about. He ate, drank, worked, chewed, slept on this slight. As I like to say: he had taken up residence in "The Red Haze". The big kerfuffle (grammar!!) in his head ended up being a simple crossing of the wires, an alternate reality he designed and anchored in, and his withdrawal of all kinds of mental and social capital cost him a lot of misery.

So, I figured I use the deposit and withdrawal of capital metaphor to shine some light here. Fortune hits us with adversity and prosperity at her cadence and whims, and so life provides us with two repositories of resources to handle our transactions with her. Think of them as banks.

First, is The BoWS—The Bank of Worry and Suffering. The other one is BoPR Ltd—Bank of Prep and Reality Limited.

BoWS is slick. Automated. No tellers. No fees. AI, Crypto, mobile, VR/AR...BoWS has it all. In fact, BoWS is 24/7, available in an instant when you need it. The BoWS does not require that you even have deposits in its vaults, you can get credit approved at BoWS with no collateral or income. The bank trades in every single currency you want, and has an infinite reserve of this currency—fear, anger, despair, worry, and suffering—that it is willing to dip into repeatedly and deliver to you instantly via mobile, DHL, in store, with no shipping, at no interest, and with no timeline to pay back. In fact you can keep the currency for as long as you want if you think that is best for you. They are heavily invested in social media, where BoWS serves up a decadent menu of their irresistible offerings. As they like to say, "Keep scrolling, baby!" And the BoWS PAiN Group, its famed analysis paralysis and overanalysis department, is forever at your call and beck. Triggers galore. Just text "trigger" to BoWS and PAiN is instantly available.

For you, my friend? Free. The only thing BoWS wants? Just your mind. That’s it.

The BoWS is also the most dominant and most powerful bank. Global. Everyone has an account at BoWS, from birth. You can turn to The BoWS every time there is a situation or even the anticipation of a situation, real or unreal. Permanent residence at The BoWS is guaranteed, no credit check or initial deposit...The BoWS welcomes you with open arms. Patrons have unlimited openings for appointments with the ubiquitous Department of Trouble, anytime, anyplace. Just hit the big red Go button on the BoWS App, and you are set for all the wahala you could ask for.

BoPR Ltd—The Bopper as it is affectionately referred to by its customers—is storied and majestic. Heavy pedigree. It takes guts, experience, and serious self-awareness to receive the privilege to bank and trade at The Bopper. Entrance and membership at The Bopper is quite difficult but attainable to all. The Bopper requires its patrons to have the discipline, courage, and wisdom to manage their affairs at this bank. Pure, undiluted reality is the currency of choice, integrated lucidity and clarity. The Bopper Storytelling Team have a treasure trove of stories of acts of courage, kindness and resilience of its members, which have been translated into books, movies, and TV shows. Patrons aka Boppers are gritty, learning hungry, and pay their taxes of life consistently without complaint. BoPR demands huge deposits of humility, grace, and the acknowledgment of things outside of your control, asking you to only keep and nurture what is within your sphere of change. And fashi what is not.

"I’ve lived through some terrible things in my life, some of which actually happened." - Mark Twain, posted at the main entrance of Bopper HQ

In return for your deposit, The BoPR works with you to build and sustain long term mental equity and social capital investments—investments in tuning your perceptions appropriately, designing and living a good life, directing your energies and actions properly, and generating the grit and will to accept and appreciate the things that are out of your control.

All Boppers have BoWS accounts. Every now and then, they transact at BoWS...the reach and incentives of BoWs are ridiculous. Boppers just do their best to keep their BoWS transactions at a minimum, and restricted to very short periods.

So.

Life has given us these two banks to do our day to day transactions. You have an account at both, but when you are hit with adversity or prosperity, which one will be your trusted primary bank?

Wetin you go do?