1/ “New Year, New Struggle.” That was the motto Saint Josemaría Escriva set for himself on the first day of 1972. “This is our destiny on earth,” he said to the people gathered at Roman College, “to struggle, for love.”
2/ He alerted them to the need to begin again in the spiritual battle, reminding them of the words of Holy Scripture, “Is not man’s life on earth just warfare?” We have to fight to overcome pride, greed, lust, anger, selfishness, and despair.
3/ Inner peace is a consequence of war, of constant struggle. We are called to keep ourselves from being enslaved by sin, and to infuse deep spirituality in every aspect of our lives—so that we shall find peace.
4/ As Escriva said, life is a continual starting over; one is always having to make acts of contrition, returning into God’s arms, repentant, like the prodigal son. “You, my sons, will always struggle, and I too will try to always struggle, to the last moment of my life.”
5/ By striving to be holy in the ordinary circumstances of our lives—in one’s time with family, during monotonous work, and even in interactions with complete strangers—Escriva believed that one’s life could be sanctified.
6/ The observation of daily life is the greatest spiritual practice. “We can all be saints in the world,” he said. “A tailor saint, a baker saint, an office saint, a factory worker saint, a teacher saint.” Escriva became known as “the saint of ordinary life.”
7/ This is a timely and important message for us as we set forth to engage the macro battlefield once more. The trading life, much like spiritual life, consists of beginning, and then beginning again, day after day.
8/ We are called to keep ourselves from being enslaved to our emotional biases, and to infuse risk discipline in all aspects of our trading. But that is not easily done.
9/ As useful as a robust investment process and risk management framework is, we typically ignore them at crucial decision points as we become caught up in either euphoria or the shame of being wrong.
10/ Sir John Templeton, one of the greatest investors of all time, believed that we could transcend such human tendencies through spiritual development. “A person is more likely to be successful managing money if he uses spiritual principles,” he said.
11/ It is the one who is spiritually guided who is observant, who understands all, who assimilates all things, who can then objectively evaluate the essential aspects of every situation. The one who has no peace cannot trade properly.
12/ It is peace that gives one the power to contemplate, to maintain the presence of mind even when things go awry. Therefore, all things pertain to spiritual progress. What counts is the ability to correct ourselves, constantly.
13/ We must be ready to start over, to find again the yearning which prevents us from giving up the fight. Setbacks will occur, but we must keep returning to the battlefield unwearied, even when everything seems black.
14/ The struggle is never ending. But if we make the conscious decision to uplift our ordinary trading activities with spiritual inspiration, well, then, we shall truly be doing, “God’s Work.”
