Winning the Ovarian Lottery

“At least a billion people on earth at this moment who would consider their prayers answered if they could trade places with you.”

– Sam Harris

Close your eyes and imagine that you have just woken up in Kabul. The streets are overrun by Taliban. Whatever semblance of civility that existed yesterday is gone, replaced by medieval lawlessness.

Now, imagine you are the parent of Afghan children.

If you are reading this, you won ovarian lottery. Be thankful. Whatever problems you are facing are small in comparison to those of the Afghans.?

Marcus Aurelius said: “Don’t imagine having things that you don’t have. Rather, pick the best of the things that you do have and think of how much you would want them if you didn’t have them.”

I don’t usually write preachy essays (okay, maybe a few). But the above thoughts have been circulating around my mind nonstop for the last few days. They feel more important than anything else I can write at this moment.??

Vitaliy Katsenelson, CFA

I am the CEO at IMA, an investment firm that designs all-terrain portfolios that survive the worst markets and thrive in good ones. (Get our company brochure?here, or simply visit?our website).

In a brief moment of senility,?Forbes?magazine called me “the new Benjamin Graham.”?

I’ve written?two books?on investing, which were published by John Wiley & Sons and have been translated into eight languages. (I’m working on a third - you can read a chapter from it, titled “The 6 Commandments of Value Investing”?here).

And if you prefer listening, audio versions of my articles are published weekly at?investor.fm.