Dichotomous Transitions and Trades

I often find myself in deep thought in my commute from my home to the city. This experience is something I wouldn’t trade for the world. If you’re like me, driving is a simple pleasure. Ha-ha! Although I will say it’s a very expensive simple pleasure. For the commute is roughly an hour and a half driving a Challenger that gets 16 mpg surely hurts my wallet, but back to the topic at hand. On one of my drives, I came to realization on the dichotomous transitions and trades of life, sort of like a tug and pull always occurring within ourselves, our actions…etc.

In this journey, much of the time I’m on Audible, taking online audio courses, taking in the sights, or lost deep in thought. My last ride, I came to a soft conclusion, you could say an epiphany. That life can be seen as nothing more than a battle of trades. Very much like a yin and yang, there is a light and dark, balanced, but always flowing. I see this everyday in my past, present, and very well know my future. Just think about. Life’s hardest moments are followed by our best moments. That is the dichotomous transitions and trades at work right there.

Heres the kicker…

For those nerds out there, we are more inclined to remember our hardest moments and downplay our happiest. Why? Because we are human and as these so called evolved mammals, we have a little thing called a negativity bias. We are more risk averse then we are reward driven. It’s evolutionary that we act accordingly to this bias for the sole purpose of protecting ourselves. Just think about it.

“As these so called evolved mammals, we have an ingrained negativity bias derived from thousands of year of evolution just for the sole purpose of protecting ourselves.”

Now let’s takes this further, I continue to ponder and come to yet another conclusion. Within this yin and yang, or the dichotomous transitions and trades. There are moments of light and darkness within the other. So, what’s the deal here! Well let’s look at this another way from an entrepreneur standpoint. Any entrepreneur, worth their weight, knows that he or she has a very long road of hard work, turmoil, confusion, and mistakes. And yet?! During those times, there are breakthroughs that may seem small, but in the grand scheme of things they culminate into the “light” or the “reward.” And vice versa.

Very much like a professional athlete. Who battles day in and out for one small win, one good practice, one smooth training session, but the small win can result in a championship or contract? Or a young parent, “showing up” haha or “always oncall” just to get a small parenting win. Well you get the point.

We get it E, you can’t get to heaven without going through hell and that is the dichotomous transitions and trades. Well not quite.

If you stuck around this far, the point is much more than just the black and white picture I’ve been painting. What if this yin and yang isn’t black and white, but a white to black grade scale? What if the dichotomous transition and trade we know, mixes and swirls from inside and out? Why do I say this? Well think with me here. As I mentioned the young parent who goes threw sleepless nights and long hours at work to provide in order to see their child grow up happy, I’m going to throw in another variable which is “time” or “mastery.”

I think we’ve seen this before, the young parent in time can be the beloved grandparent. It is not because the grandparent is bribing the child. It is the simple mastery of parenting that has crowned the individual as the beloved grandparent. Now if you’re the athlete, this is similar, we all know Jordan and Kobe did not start off as the greatest of all time, but took their losses to culminate larger wins.

Finally, my personal favorite and source of inspiration, Teddy Roosevelt.

Who continuously lost many elections and yet continued the journey to presidency. This man lost his wife and mother within a day. His daughter considered crazy. He lost his eye in a boxing match and continued. He is the epitome of a Black Sheep who was not only one of the greatest hunters, but an even better conservationist.

To sum it all up ladies and gents, take your lickings, lose, struggle, fight, enjoy, win, learn, fail, and succeed. We like to say life is a double-edged sword that begins in birth and ends in death, but it is the chips and polishes that temper the sword into a sharp blade with a story behind it. If you have anything further to add, please feel free to comment down below or email us. If you would like to support the Black Sheep movement, feel free to visit our shop or subscribe to our mailing list. Hope you enjoyed!