The Only Certainty Is Uncertainty
Terry,
We agree with financial commentator Terry Savage, who says it’s your ability to adapt to change and setbacks that makes the difference between success and failure:
“Sometimes we are confronted by issues and events we never see coming because we don’t know they’re even a possibility. Of course, we try to stay on guard against the unexpected. We seek advice from experts to try to make the future less uncertain. We buy insurance against financial disaster and property damage. We set aside savings or investments to tide us over through rough times.”
“But what happens when, after all your planning, the tide changes? You think you’re in control of life because you’ve made decisions based on the commonly accepted wisdom. The lessons that hurt the most, cost the most, and teach the most come from suddenly being awakened to the reality that your strongly held beliefs have been turned upside down.... Change is a certainty. Accepting change means setting aside beliefs, recent experiences, and even the common wisdom. How well you adapt to change determines success in life, as well as in personal finances.” (Terry Savage, The Savage Truth on Money (New York: John Wiley, 1999), xiii.)