Paying Attention

Insurance is a Grudge Purchase. You don’t see the benefits when things are going well. When things go wrong, it is tough to feel good about it being only less bad than you wanted. The first insurance companies were Mutual Societies. People who knew each other getting together in coffee shops to spread the risks of dying in war, or of betting their entire fortune on a single venture across the stormy seas. People who knew each other. Communities spreading the risk. Two of the best forms of insurance are Community and Education. When Winter comes, as it always does, fear is not there because of the confidence in the roots. You don’t begrudge giving support when you feel connected. To past investment. To future springs. To each other. Mudita is the opposite of the better-known emotion of Schadenfreude. Mudita is the sympathetic or vicarious joy that comes from delighting in other people’s well-being. To experience Mudita, we need to “pay the premium” of building relationships. Paying attention. Seeing relevance. Building meaning.