Is there light at the end of the tunnel?!

I am a workaholic and don’t really have a problem with that, I do what I do because I can and I am good at most of it. Not perfect, but nobody really is … and I can work in a reasonable way when I am under pressure. I like challenges and love to work on new projects, I also recognize talent and opportunities as well. I might not use my full capacity yet, but when something has to be done, I will usually get it done.

Quite often you have to ask the own motivation though, when too many take everything for granted and barely appreciate anything at all. This can be frustrating and aggravating, but at the end of the day it should not matter and have no or just very few influence on the own performance. Establishing and maintaining a certain balance and stability while dealing with these circumstances is the most difficult challenge and most of the time the solution will be a compromise. We don’t always get what we want, but life goes on … .

There are certain situations though when it becomes difficult to deal with the own expectations, the reality and the expectations from others. What seems quite simple in theory can be next to impossible and the own ability to master every challenge is in danger. The key to success is if you are willing to invest time, money and efforts into solving the problem and finding an acceptable solution for most involved, or simply take the easy way. You also realize who you are and who you thought you are, sometimes the discrepancy can be annoying and will tilt the hell out of you.

As much as we think we depend on others, we should never give up the control and even though it might appear that the final decision is not in our hands, it usually is if we just really focus on it. Whereas others might have a certain influence on our daily routine, this is just the case because we let them and it is not always a bad thing. But we should not depend on others and take their input and feedback as an opportunity to grow and learn. We might not always like what we get told or realize, but it’s part of the learning process called life.

Sounds contradictory, doesn’t it? Often we don’t understand why something happens and we are afraid of the unknown, we don’t like authority but at the same time we expect that others respect us. So what does that tell us? We should always act the same way like we want and expect to be treated as well and if that is not the case, we are the person to blame and not others. To a certain degree we are all selfish though, but it doesn’t always make sense to act this way as well and rather put the own needs at the bottom of the list to help towards the bigger picture.

Is there light at the end of the tunnel? Yes, of course there is but often we don’t see or want to see it, since the most common and little things have already become a routine for us and we cannot enjoy them anymore. The first thing you would tell someone else is to open the eyes, but the eyes just help for the visual interpretation and we also need to open our mind and heart to really understand what is going on. We might not always be able to control each of them, but that is part of our personality and nobody is perfect.

If we can accept all the above and furthermore give our best to overcome our own limits and prejudices, we will be on a good way on the road to success. Knowing the abilities and weaknesses helps to discover these limits and even though we might fear what happens when we cross that line, we will never find out either if we don’t even try. Just believe in yourself and that you can master all possible consequences and you will see the light.

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Expectation vs Reality

I already wrote a blog some time ago with a very similar topic and it was about poker and psychology, this entry might be considered as psychology related as well but it does at the same time also represent my own frustrating mindset as well. I realized though that for some reason I am able to write and deal with my not so fortunate experiences in a constructive way and writing about it always helps to get it off your chest.

After all, you can even send it to the person that it’s supposed to, but you don’t necessarily have to … writing it down means you can change parts of the text and it is your choice if you publish it or not. But when you speak to someone in person, things are said depending on the situation and you cannot take back the words once they have been said and we do say a lot of stupid things in the heat of the moment that we might regret later on.

Based on our experience, knowledge and feelings we tend to grow certain expectations and most of the time we are not far away from the reality. But we don’t always make the most logical choice and our expectations are not as realistic as they are supposed to, mainly because we listen to our heart and ignore all warnings from our head. We expose our weakness and feelings and it is quite possible that we get hurt. 

Getting hurt doesn’t necessarily mean it is a bad experience, because all happens for a reason and life is a never ending challenge full of lessons left and right. But how we deal with them and all their consequences defines our karma and also our personality. Some try the easy way and never get hurt, there is nothing wrong with that. But it is in the human nature to be competitive and break out of the boring isolation in the search for adventure.

We might not always know what is gonna happen and that insecurity is dangerous and also very exciting at the same time as well, because it means a different and new experience and we break out of our very own comfort zone. The final result might be totally different from what we expected on first sight and it can be pretty frustrating, but it is also part of the learning process and makes us a better person in the long run.

I wish I could say I always approach situations with the most realistic expectations, but I am a young and sometimes also naïve perfectionist and do almost everything with a lot of passion. This exposes me more than I want to admit and it also symbolizes a by far higher risk, because I think and analyze and am very careful with my emotions. If I find something worthwhile, I probably invest too much and might get hurt more than its supposed to though.

Such is life and it is not always fair, but this way it will also always be interesting and might hold quite some surprises. I don’t regret what I have done and will continue to listen to both my heart and my head, but maybe my own needs deserve a higher priority than they used to have so far. It will probably hurt for some time, but what doesn’t kill you just makes you stronger and I intend to follow that path even if it is very likely that I get hurt in a similar way again.

A lot of people cannot express their feelings and I am no different, sometimes I am just not able to and regret that I wasted some opportunities to say what I really feel, but I am also open minded enough and see potential to improve. I am good at writing and expose quite a few emotions despite the fact that this might be interpreted as weakness for a guy … but this is the path that I have chosen.

You need to believe in your own abilities and skills and use them to your advantage as well as helping others that seek for help because they are not fortunate enough. We are all different and nobody is perfect, we all made a lot of mistakes and will make them in the future as well, but if we didn’t make any mistakes how are we supposed to learn from them? As long as we try to avoid making the same mistake again and learning from them to increase our knowledge it is the right way to deal with all potential consequences.

Thanks for the attention, hope this uncommon rant was not too complicated but I can assure you it did help me a lot to get it off my chest. I gonna end this entry with a saying from one of my poems:

I am a goodbye hater,

Much more prefer “See you later”.

zedmaster84

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An attempt of self evaluation

This blog entry will see two different topics, poker related and more personal … it is an attempt to get a better understanding of the own situation and how I can use my knowledge to improve.

I am not sure how it was triggered, but I always had a certain fascination at school to write – where others struggled or got frustrated, I never had a problem to write about almost everything. For me it was not complicated to pick up new stuff and use analytical and logical strategies to combine different topics and see the bigger picture.

But I have to admit one thing … I didn’t like poems, thus I am a bit surprised about my current inspiration and the ability to express my thoughts and find the right words. Maybe it was just a sleeping talent that I never noticed or never paid attention to, but I don’t want to miss out the opportunity now that it has finally come.

It might be a bit unexpected though, but it gives me the chance to say what I have been unable to so far and to pay back a debt that I feel deep inside to the persons I feel close to. Many don’t know how to express their thoughts, but it is something that deserves to be said and makes it more personal and special. It can be considered as unusual for my age and gender, but normally this should not be an issue at all as we shall value the content of the message and not who actually wrote it.

Writing is a way to focus your thoughts and say what you got on your mind, it is up to each and everyone though what they want to share and what not. Many don’t feel comfortable and you should think about all possible consequences before you take this important step and open yourself to other opinions and feedback that might give you a completely different point of view.

I am a firm believer in karma though and think that everything happens for a reason, I am thankful for the close friends that I have and this way I can show them my appreciation. I don’t need any special day for it, whenever I have the chance I will just go ahead. This might seem a bit old fashioned and can be considered as a weakness in our current society where success is mostly defined upon the monetary value.

Life is an everlasting learning process and we will see many ups and downs, but the way we handle them defines our personality and the impression that we give to others. There is a certain point of no return, if you don’t realize what your priorities are or should be, it will be very difficult to change the chosen path. That doesn’t mean it is not possible, there are just by far more hurdles than normal that will require your full attention and a lot of work. Sometimes this can be prevented, but we also have to make mistakes in order to learn what is right and what is wrong. 

Once you are on a certain path many people believe that it would be a mistake to leave it no matter what happens, but that is not correct. The further you get on that road, the more things you notice that might change your mind and your attitude completely. We cannot influence the things that happened in our past, but we can learn from it and benefit from it in the here and now as well as the future.

Finding the right balance between body and soul is the most difficult task that you will ever have and only a few ever succeeded, most of the time it’s a compromise between mental and physical health and nobody is perfect. But to be honest, the aim is not to be perfect, you shall just do the best based on your skills, abilities and your knowledge. If you are too lazy and refuse to use your knowledge in order to improve, there is no need to blame anyone else than yourself for the lack of progress. But well, nobody really wants to do that because it is so much easier not to look into the mirror and instead blame someone else.

By questioning your knowledge all the time and sharing your opinions with others you will receive more feedback in return that helps to gather a better understanding. There lies truth in everything and nothing is really completely right or wrong, we just have different values based on our personal experience. As long as you use an open mind and take all into consideration, you will avoid basing your decisions on prejudices and relying on emotions. 

Right now I am not sure where exactly on that path I am and try desperately to gain as much information as possible to find out where and who I am. The whole process also has a directly influence on my performance at the poker tables as well and most of the time I am able to maintain a certain standard of play that avoids heavy losses. I am not sure if I shall call it discipline, strategy, self control or just being conservative … I guess all of these terms apply. It ensures that I don’t lose too much but at the same time it also temporary blocks out the one “big shot” also known as major win.

That being said, I take risks as well, I just prefer to do so in a more controlled and reasonable way without gambling too much … I want to keep the control and get in ahead based on my gut feeling, experience and knowledge. I am exploring my limits quite often and dive into new topics that help me to get a more complete point of view on how things are actually connected. Standing still is the worst thing you can do because all opponents with a serious attitude will always aim to learn more and close the gap that might have existed before. 

I try to cut out my emotions most of the time when I play poker and I also don’t play much when I don’t feel well, just playing for the sake of it or to kill some time is just not reasonable in my humble opinion because I always used to have a serious approach towards poker. It is up to everyone though and not every poker player actually plays to learn more about the game itself or win lots of money. Quite a few enjoy it as hobby and as additional challenge and competition, it is part of the human nature to be competitive and try to find out how good you are compared to others.

My goal for the near future is to read more about other game types and play more Omaha and Stud (Hi and Hi Lo), because there are just a few regulars that know what they are doing and certain betting patterns usually become predictable. The weaker players don’t know the hand and draw equity and chase you down no matter what, you will almost always get paid with a made hand. 

I don’t care much about the short term results, as I am usually not results orientated … but I will follow my learning process closely and if I have the impression that I don’t get anywhere, I will sit down again and see why I have failed. Failure doesn’t necessarily mean that you made mistakes, more likely that you still have a lot to learn and didn’t know as much as you thought before. It is one of the lessons that you either take or not, ignoring it would just close a few doors though but it’s not the end of the world.

The whole point is to set priorities and give you goals to work on, because you will be more distinguished and focused to reach them. In order to improve you have to find out that you are worse than you thought … and that others are better than you. It might be a tough pill to swallow if you are not used to “losing”, but none of the Pros has won every single tournament. Sometimes you just have to accept that others are better, you just need to find out if you actually played your best game or not. Try not to find the mistake anywhere else but you, it might be easier to blame others but you can’t do that all day long. 

There is no specific top 5 or 10 or whatever list though, it’s just a rough schedule with a few specific guidelines and priorities and they might change the further I get. Just by writing it down it will give you more food for thought and stay on your mind. I hope I will be able to deal with the results in a constructive and logical way, there is no guarantee for it but I am not afraid to accept a loss in order to learn and move on.

Best of luck on and off the tables.

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Alea Iacta Est

Alea iacta est (also alea jacta est, Latin: "The die has been cast") is a Latin phrase attributed by Suetonius to Julius Caesar on January 10, 49 BC as he led his army across the River Rubicon in northern Italy. With this step, he entered Italy at the head of his army in defiance and began his long civil war against Pompey and the Optimates. [Wikipedia]

Today, this phrase usually means to take an irrevocable step ... but this is just the impression that the current society wants to give us to consistently keep the pressure up and force us to continue, even though it might not be in our best interest. 

In some way it is fascinating that we ignore our own feelings and let others take over control and have a huge influence on our life and daily routine. This might not always be a bad thing, but at the very end it does not help to drift to one or the other extreme. The most difficult challenge is to find the right balance between those 2 extreme and we always have to question our decisions and the motivation behind it. Will it bring us on the right path to find that balance or do we not care about it at all?

We all make mistakes and our decisions might not always have been the most logical choice, yet there is no way to change our past. It is part of our learning process and brought us where we are now ... we learn from our mistakes and grow up, because everything that doesn't kill us just makes us stronger.

Decisions that we have taken in our past might still have a certain influence on the here and now as well as the future, yet it doesn't automatically mean that we have to stick to it just because we don't want to look weak. Life is a never ending challenge and often we will get another perspective and change our mind, but it takes a lot of power to admit a mistake and accept the new point of view.

We always learn something every day, but we might not always realize it or pay attention to it. But we adjust our behavior ... often without noticing it. The more we learn, the more we realize that we know nothing at all and that our knowledge or the illusion that we had before is nothing compared to the potential knowledge that we gain if we walk through life with our eyes opened. 

Sometimes we have to make mistakes to get a better understanding and it might hurt, but in the long run it will help us not to make the same mistakes again. Because how shall we know that it was a mistake when we have never experienced it? That being said, it might be correct that some of our steps are irrevocable ... but most of them are not and we still have a certain control over them and can change the path if we don't let others control the direction that it is going to take.

It is in our best interest to remain as independent as possible without isolating ourselves, but if we really believe in our abilities and know our weaknesses and strengths, than we will be able to solve every problem. Everything happens for a reason and we define the path that we take, we might not always be right but as long as we keep up the confidence and try to make the decision based on our knowledge, experience and gut feeling, we will always have control over the possible consequences. 

Quite often this might appear very frustrating, boring or even irritating. It might definitely help if there is certain patience, because some problems take a while to get solved and it might get worse first before some progress becomes visible. Finding the right stability to keep up the spirit requires an open and strong mind and someone or something that you can rely on in case it doesn't work out. 

Carpe diem ... seize the day, or the day will seize you. And it won't let you get away that easily once you have been caught. Concentrate on all the things that give you confidence and help you to improve, they might not always make you happy but if it wasn't a challenge, would it be worth it? If we have to put effort into something and it is quite difficult, you can enjoy the "success" by far more when you realize what you have accomplished. Nothing will be exactly the same though as the first impression, there is always more behind it ... but we shall welcome that as an opportunity and not fear the unknown.

Thanks for your attention.

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What you see is what you get!?

What you see is what you get!?

So why should you actually complain when you don’t get what you don’t want to see?

Isn’t that contradictory?

This article is an observation and personal reflection of the current society and its influence on the mental health for the average human, it might contain personal experience and will definitely be biased, it is up to the reader though to draw their own conclusions. You might want to ask why I picked this specific topic; well I have to admit that this was triggered by a documentary on TV.

We can barely influence our inspiration, sometimes it just makes things more difficult if we question where it does come from. What we can definitely influence is our very own way to gain and maintain the motivation to use that inspiration in a constructive way. It is always important to have an open mind and accept another perspective as well and question the own knowledge and understanding.

To say the least it is pretty difficult to actually write about this topic because it’s still a taboo in our society, a few decades ago it would have been even worse because a mental illness was almost as bad as Aliens from outer space. We have become more aware of the tendency and risk though, but the acceptance in the society is still a topic that most don’t want to touch to avoid raised eye brows and weird looks from the side. 

If you hear some comments, the term “crazy” is used pretty often even though it is very discriminating. It is a weak excuse when we do have the impression that someone does not meet the expectations of an average member of our society. But who defines the criteria and restrictions on how a normal human is supposed to act? Isn’t that understanding of perfection always based on the ideal of a very selfish society that likes to degrade everyone that is not as perfect as the ridiculous advertising that we see everywhere?

The whole imagination of perfection is so far from the truth, yet it creates an atmosphere of pressure and terror. We think we are by far more civilized than our ancestors because we are able to invent and use more advanced technology. What appears to be normal nowadays may sound like science fiction for our older generation and we will be faced by the same scenario when we get older as well. The general expectations grow more and more and if we are unable to reach certain goals, the society tells us that we are not worth it and shall try harder.

But not everybody is really that strong to compete in this race and in fact it is a race that we can never win. Because when we think we finally made it, there will be another difficult challenge. Does that automatically mean that we shall give up? Hello no, but one of our main goals is getting a better understanding of our own abilities and our role in the society. Everything happens for a reason and we can’t change our past, but we can learn from it and use that knowledge to make more reasonable decisions in the here and now as well as in the future.

Why does the society keep up that pressure and creates another ideal of perfection all the time? It is part of the human nature that we always like challenges and want to reach certain goals; this fake perfection will keep our motivation high even though we don’t realize that we don’t want to be perfect. We are telling ourselves that we want to be like someone else because that person is more successful or gets more respect and attention in the society than us. 

There is a saying: Nobody is perfect. Well, so if we somehow manage to be that super hero, we would in fact be nobody, huh? In my humble opinion, I don’t want to be nobody and rather be somebody … I might be less perfect, but I am also myself and not someone that I pretend to and don’t want to be. Some might appreciate it and don’t care about the consequences because they will get more attention and that is worth living a lie … but are they really honest with themselves all the time?

The worst and best moment that you will ever experience is the time when you realize that you need help and are not as good as you thought you are. Normally this has a very negative aspect, but if you see it from another perspective it will appear more reasonable than you imagine on first glance. You will feel weak and want to hide from everybody … but you will also know exactly where your limits are. And this understanding will help you to move on and find an inner balance that you need to improve. 

When you reach the point and feel totally burned out, when you can’t even handle the most common situation in your daily routine and break down, you will feel like the most useless person on this planet. If you try to solve this all by yourself, you will barely succeed and there might always be the risk to break down again. This whole experience is extraordinary and will have a huge impact on the rest of your life, the question is just if you are able to crawl out of the cocoon and seek help or not.

We tell us most of the time that it’s not as bad as it might look, but if we are not totally honest it might create a certain negative energy. You can’t just grab a patch and fix a trauma in our soul; it’s by far more complicated and not really visible unless you pay attention. If we wait too long, there is no guarantee that it can ever be fixed … no matter how bad it is, the process itself is always tough and will bring us near the limit of our mental and physical will power.

The most difficult step is realizing that there might be a problem and the tendency in our society nowadays is showing an increase of burnouts in the younger generation. It is not the 40 year old workaholic anymore that breaks down, it already starts in school and the early years at work. The overall pressure has a bigger impact on our daily routine as we want to admit, we don’t even notice it because it has already become a part of our life through the “education” of the mass media. 

But does the mass media really care about the average expectation? In fact they could care less because they want to attract their consumers and it doesn’t matter if the publicity is good or bad, if people talk about it, you have reached the goal. There has to be a tragedy or triumph, otherwise people would not pay any attention and we are always attracted by something special. Most don’t pay attention to the little things until they are not available anymore. 

What would you do if you see that someone is struggling, do you look away or do you have to have a certain affinity to that person in order to offer help? It might sound trivial, but sometimes it is not really that difficult to be there for someone and just listen, talking about problems helps to get a better understanding of what actually happened because you can’t tell the story without going back in the own memory. Often you will also get a completely different perspective and if you have an open mind, you will be able to evaluate the situation and make the most logical choice.

If you eat every problem up and never share it with anyone, you are either very lonely or give out a false impression to others and want to hide the reality. We always try to fit into a specific category because we are afraid of what might happen when we don’t meet the expectations. We live a double life and most of the time the perfect impression doesn’t reflect the inner balance, but we are barely able to maintain that all the time. Sometimes the masquerade reveals its identity or the inner balance breaks and this is the moment that we should fear. It can be avoided pretty easily though … just be honest with yourself and accept your leaks as part of your personality and identity.

You don’t have to be proud of it, but you should also not deny it … even though this means that you appear less perfect in the eyes of someone else. It’s not always yes or no … sometimes it’s also “and” – same with black and white, quite often we see a lot of variations of grey. We once have chosen a certain path and this has been our destiny for the rest of our life. The more experience we gain, the better of an understanding about our path we get and realize that the path that once seemed to be so promising might not be the best choice any more. 

Don’t look at that like a defeat, it is part of our learning aspect and we just recapitulate our progress so far and if necessary adjust the goals. We don’t have to stay on the path just because we once thought it would be golden, we make a lot of experiences in our life and our priorities might change. “What would have happened if I had already known that at that time” is just an illusion of the mind because there is no way that we could have had the same knowledge already back in the days.

We make good and bad decisions and how we handle the consequences defines our karma. Should we feel guilty that we have done something wrong? This might be the case but it happened and can’t be undone. But would we have gotten that far in our life as well if we didn’t make that mistake?  We are who we are and not who we want to be or pretend to be. Because sooner or later the truth will come out … and it will be by far less difficult if we are honest with ourselves.

In a certain way we all are a little bit crazy … because we can’t be exactly the same way like another person. We all have made our own experiences and picked up values and knowledge in a different way or have another understanding of everything that happened, currently happened and might happen. But does that automatically mean that we are worth less or more than someone else? That’s what the society wants to tell us, because without us they would be less perfect as well and we wouldn’t use our full potential to improve either. 

Thanks for your attention!

Christian Zetzsche / zedmaster84

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The butterfly effect

Life is a never ending challenge that will always show a different face from day to day, it might appear to be the same or at least somewhat similar, but it will never be exactly the same. The way we welcome it and always adjust and are prepared for different scenarios separates us from each other.

We can’t change our past, but we can look back at what happened and accept it as part of our learning process. It doesn’t make any sense if we torture us and make us responsible for everything that happened … everything happens for a reason and we often have a certain influence on the situation, but the final decision might not always be in our hand.

Everybody regrets some of the things that happened in the past, but you have to ask yourself if you would do the same again if you had the choice … because you live in the present and you are who you are because of your past. All the good and bad experiences come together and build your personality and your character … you may be disgusted about a few things, but you may not have had the same knowledge and experience that you have now.

Afterwards we always know it better, but we also learn from our mistakes and have to avoid them in the future. If it doesn’t kill you … it just makes you stronger. You shall not see your past as a weakness, just look at it as an opportunity because without it you would have never gotten that far. Would we be able to improve if we are not aware of our mistakes? And if we never make mistakes, how can we actually be sure that we did something right either?

We are responsible for all our actions and can’t blame others, many things cannot be undone and we have to live with the consequences, whether we like them or not … but how we handle them defines our karma. It would make things less complicated though if we always try to keep in mind how we would feel if that happens to us and if we really want to get treated that way.

Or is there actually a difference between being faced with the consequences ourselves and handing them over on other shoulders? In the very end, the human species will always be egomaniac and selfish, it is part of our nature …. that doesn’t give us the right though to use it as excuse in every situation.

We are the sum of all our fears and hopes, strengths and weaknesses … and we can’t just press on a button and disable everything that we don’t like. We can’t ignore it either, it is part of our personality and makes us unique … how we deal with it defines our chance to know more about us and increase our understanding. 

Whether we want to show them towards others or not is our decision, for most it would just give out a weak impression … but we also have to be aware that nobody is perfect. Even though many will claim that they are perfect, this is far away from the truth … because otherwise we would be nobody, right? And do we really want to be nobody or do we rather prefer to be somebody, even if that would mean that we can’t claim anymore that we are perfect? We should be proud of what we are, no matter if the weaknesses outweigh our strengths … that would just be an added bonus.

Quite often you will get asked what is on your mind … but maybe the question shall be “Why is it on your mind?!” There is a reason behind everything and action will cause a reaction … knowing the cause and the potential consequences in advance gives us more faith in our own abilities. Keep your eyes open all the time and prepare yourself, if you have the stamina and patience … you are on the best way to handle all difficult situations.

Without any preparation, you will always rely on luck and variance … but consistently working on yourself and your game will give you an edge against your opponents. It is no guarantee that you will win, but the odds are much higher that you can use your knowledge to your advantage and this will always help you in the long run. Many don’t pay attention to the little things, but most of the time it’s the most subtle detail that might cause an emotion that you cannot deny and that will have an influence on all your actions.

If we are not prepared at all, we always risk getting hurt if we leave our comfort zone and crawl out of our cocoon. Only the strongest will survive … and this doesn’t necessarily include muscles, they may help but it doesn’t hurt if you are clever and know all your weaknesses and strengths. We may fear the unknown because it has been pretty comfortable so far … but without taking any risk in life, it would be pretty boring. No matter what road we have chosen so far, it is never too late to change it and try something new … because most of the time the potential reward outweighs the risk.

By the way, did you notice that almost every butterfly is unique and very special in its own way? It is the same for every human as well … we just don’t look at the butterflies and enjoy their beauty, because they seem so small compared to us. Well, maybe it is time to pay more attention to all those little things … who knows; it might eventually open a completely new world for you. 

Thanks for your attention.

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Stranger on this planet

The title of this blog entry might appear strange for most of the readers, but there is a special purpose behind this and it will be explained later on in this blog entry. 

We keep telling ourselves that everything is getting better, because the technology is more advanced … but at the same time we don’t realize that we more and more depend on this technology and don’t respect the values that helped us to get where we are at right now. We take by far more for granted and become arrogant in our thinking, because we don’t pay attention to all the ordinary and little things anymore … even though they might bring us the most pleasure when we are down.

But have we really improved over the last decades and is the modern technology really worth it? Sure they are a nice addition and an asset when it comes down to functionality and availability of information, but is it an excuse to become lazy and don’t use our own mind? There are so many prejudices in our society because the mass media is manipulating our free will to decide what is right and what is wrong … and many forget that they are responsible for all their actions and have to cope with the consequences. 

It is kinda sad to see how most of us treat minorities nowadays, we become arrogant and tell ourselves that we are better than others and yet don’t try to help people that are less fortunate or plain and simple look down on them. The gap between the old and new generation is getting bigger and bigger, partly because of the modern technology and the different level of understanding and how to use it your own advantage. This shall not be surprising though, as the younger generation already grows up with it and learns how to use it while the older generation never had the opportunity and is a completely different experience.

Both do have their strengths and weaknesses though, the younger situation is able to adjust to a new situation much faster, but doesn’t know much about traditional values like respect … the old generation might be slower at picking up new technologies, but they can teach us a lot of lessons based on their experience and we should not be overly arrogant and ignore that. If you can combine those two and find the right balance, you will see that a lot of things become less complicated and give you a better understanding on how to solve difficult situations.

But how does all that work out at the poker tables? Do we judge the abilities and skills at the poker table based on gender, race, age and look? Quite often the first impression influences our emotions and takes over control, we do not always make the most logical choice because we are distracted by the society and its biased and generalized opinion. It is our responsibility to open our mind and decide if we take that for granted or not … but please don’t complain when you get beaten by your own arrogance.

The game of poker is attracting so many people all over the world and theoretically everybody does have the same odds to win, we get dealt the same number of cards and it doesn’t matter at all what those hole cards actually are. We can lose with pocket Aces and win with 27 off suit, that is just a matter of perspective. We define our own odds once the game has started based on our experience and if we are always capable to make the most logical choice in any situation … we have to keep in mind to get our chips in with a realistic chance to win. Prejudices will always influence our emotional balance and let us ignore all alarm bells that would normally ring when we should fold.

It doesn’t matter if we are Chinese or American, nor if we are 18 years old or 67 years old … but the biggest leak in this still testosterone triggered world is the respect that we show towards women. The male machismo barely knows any limits and we always want to appear as the strong gender because that was our natural role in the history. We always look at women as the “weak” gender, most think they are better and can outplay women at the poker table, just because they would never expect a bluff.

The very moment when you realize that you just walked into a trap and donated the chips to a woman or lost to a woman, you still think that this can’t be true … just a few notice and honor that the skill and the ability does not depend on the gender and that there are a lot of talented women out there that take your money on the river with a cute smile in their face. It might appear as weak from a male point of view, but do you actually have the strength and power to seriously respect that you lost to someone better than yourself? 

The key word in all this is respect … if you don’t bring up any respect for your opponent, no matter whom it actually is … you can’t expect respect in return. I know a lot of female poker players that kick some a$$ and show the men that all their prejudices are dead wrong. It still gonna take some time until more men realize that, it won’t stop me from showing you the same respect and value you based on your skill and abilities at the poker table. In the meanwhile … all you poker playing ladies out there … take them “male” chips with a smile on the face and don’t let anyone ever tell you that you are worse than them just because you are a woman.

If we really want other non poker players to accept and understand our passion for this game, we should all grow up and try to improve all the time … and also show more respect on and off the tables. Because we all enjoy this card game, no matter what gender, race and age we are, right?

I sometimes feel like a stranger on this planet though, because most people don’t show the same respect and are rude towards women … they think they have to be better poker players just because they are male. But grown up men turn into crying babies when they lose to a woman, especially when they are in fact better at poker … is that scenario really so shocking? It is not proven anywhere that women can’t be as good as men at the poker table, that is a prejudice and hopefully everybody will learn that lesson sooner or later. Show some respect and receive it in return, after all that will make the whole experience by far more worthwile.

Thanks for your attention.

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