Bipolar day.

Today I had a rapid cycle bipolar day which went from high to worse.

For once I’ll try to focus on the positive side of things instead of my usual negative bias.

An excellent friend of mine invited me to lunch at his beautiful house in the outskirt of Dijon. It was a bit of a drive but nothing extraordinary either. He is one the handful person that I can call my friend and the only one who was in my field. We know each other for about eighteen years. I was greeted as a prince, with open arm and it felt so good. My friend knows about my condition from A to Z and thought that it was time to take me out of the house for a change of environment and to talk about our passion which are the financial markets. I have been out of the loop for far too many years, and I’m not really up to date on the details and changes within the legal frame, but according to him, I still have it as the principals haven’t changed at all. Even though I have no chances to work again in this field, I always check occasionally what the markets are doing.

We had a marvelous lunch on his terrace overlooking a beautiful scenery which could have been taken from a movie. First, we had an appetizer, typical French dry sausage with a nice cold beer. We chatted a bit about everything, he was very concerned about my health, and that’s when I noticed something in his eyes. There was pain or sorrow in his look when he inquired me about my condition. I immediately asked if everything was okay with him and he answered that his young brother passed away, not too long ago, after having battled with lethal cancer. I could feel the pain and asked how he was feeling and if he was seeking professional help. I mentioned it to lessen the burden of the grieving process and answered negatively but wasn’t against the idea as he has other problems to deal with too. I didn’t pry and asked what it was. I figured if he wants to talk about it he will.

He told me that he was feeling horrible for his parents that they had to bury their son. Then I put my “father’s cap” on and was asking myself if I would ever be able to deal with such traumatic and unnatural circumstances. Granted I almost lost both of my boys, but I haven’t lost them which make all the difference.

The lunch was exquisite and plentiful. We managed to have great discussions about so many topics which varied from the financial world to mental illness.

At one point he brought me a very confidential project which was very detailed and intricate. He asked my opinion on it which flattered me a great deal. With reviewed it page by page as I was trying to keep up with the pace as I felt quite rusty. Then came the time to issue my opinion on it. I mentioned what I felt were the strong points and the weaknesses. And to my great surprise, he told me that he agreed and will give this exact same feedback to the people in charge of this quite substantial investment.

He looked at me with a smile and said “I told you that you still got you old fox.

Peace and serenity

Lawrence

 

 

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