When I was a teenager, I would spend our summers at our family's beach house. I would be up early to lay claim to my favorite spot on the beach spending hours reading, walking, talking, swimming, and napping. Lunchtime was spent watching All My Children then back to the beach for an hour before General Hospital started. I was hooked!
The trials and tribulations of Luke and Laura and the antics of the beautiful and powerful Erica Kane, filled my summer days. I couldn’t miss a minute. Each day would end in some type of cliffhanger that drew me back to the next episode.
But then the school year would begin again and I’d be swept back up into my routine. I would almost forget about those shows, just catching a glimpse during a vacation week.
During the summer, it felt if I missed a day—I missed it all. But when I realized watching the show year over year—the story really didn’t change that much.
And then, it dawned on me one day while talking to a client—the stock market is just like a soap opera! If you spend time watching it every day, especially throughout the day—it can be a wild ride. You might even feel like you are on a roller coaster and you need a really strong seat belt. But if you step back and watch things annually, it’s not so bad. You missed all the “drama” of the ups and downs. The “Luke’s” come and go and come and go but in the end—they are still there. The Erica Kane’s are still in a love interest and up to something interesting.
When you find yourself getting caught up in the daily gyrations of the stock market, step back and get some perspective. It really is just like a soap opera.