DEAL OR NO DEAL has been a highly acclaimed and a super popular TV show currently in the world of WII games reaching the minds of our children. Bald Howie is seen everyday cheering some of the winners or comforting some of the losers which creates an intriguing intensity coupled with suspense, anticipations and the hope of winning that seems always to be within reach and yet, always eluding the players. At first look, we see an exciting entertainment apparently inofensive. After all, it's just a show, what could be so wrong with something so nice?, one may ask in a defensive mode. Of course, I am not here to advocate "DEAL OR NO DEAL" for better or for worse. I believe that Howie is a fine human being, a highly skilled entertainer and a gifted businessman with a great sense of compassion for its participants on the show. So, my comments below are in no wise directed at Howie Mandel rather I am reviewing the nature of the show and its aftermath impacts on anybody who participated in the show. However, certain game shows make for more decent viewing on Television. Without creating a rivalry and a senseless competition, shows like the classic "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune" have a more interactive experience requiring guests to use their brains. But, shows like DEAL OR NO DEAL, are based largely on sheer luck and offer nothing more than a gambling sensation that shrieks the nerves of anxious participants. Sure, it's a highly-watched show and some may even argue that its nature does not matter. However, the show's entrance into our living room and its addictive impact may create a devastating recipe for the minds of the viewers. In addition, the idea of getting something for nothing is dictating a psychological behavior like that of Casino Gambling. Ok Mr. Roy, get to the bottom of it. Too much rhetorics keeps us waiting too long for your takes on the show. What's wrong with DEAL OR NO DEAL in your opinion? What's wrong with gambling? What's wrong with Day-Trading? Can someone make a living practicing such crafts? Is there a science one can perfect in gambling or is an non-calculated risk feeding on some destructive habits in human beings?
Without referring to "DEAL OR NO DEAL" as a bad show, I hasten to address the three great evils that are ruining mankind, specially those who engage in stealing whether its white collar crimes or petty bank break ins or those who are engaged in the destructive behavior of Day-Trading relying on its elusive strategy or yet, others who are playing games like "DEAL OR NO DEAL" or practicing other gambling-like behaviors. To those trapped in the vicious cycles of such behaviors and those who want to play DEAL OR NO DEAL I wish to caution against three life-destroying evils that we all can prevent lest they invade our nervous system and we become like vegetables under their crippling effects. Here lies the trapping triangle of
The first evil is FEAR You may say, what's wrong with that? isn't fear an inescapable way of life on our planet? Until we analyze the playground for fear and the environment it creates around us, we cannot comprehend the danger that lurks in its shadow. The fear of being wrong while playing the game creates a sense of eccentricity in the minds of the participants who seem to loose all common sense while playing the game. Participants seem incapacitated to think for themselves and make solid decision when facing simple options such as, should I call DEAL or NO DEAL. At times we ask, why are they that stupid? However, one has to simply pick at the game to realize what one contestant clearly stated on one of the shows "This is real people, I don't know what to do and i am afraid." Such Fearsome environment does not make for mental fortitude or even a fun time. So much stress is placed on the player with only luck as the guiding obscurity and a banker lurking in the shadow of an enclosed room waiting to make offers up or down. So, under the fear of the moment, participants walk away with almost nothing after they were offered hundreds of thousands of dollars because they failed to quit during the highs of the game and they feel compelled to hang around when the offer is going down after they picked the high dollar cases. So, on they go from fear to greed, from one evil influence to another evil influence.
The second evil is GREED Someone once asked me, "Mr. Roy, have you ever seen a person dignosed with incurable and terminal greed? Then, why are you so hard on greed? Isn't greed what drives the Stock Market, our ambition, our ego and our success? These comments look like good food for thoughts except that they are too saturated with the evil fat and mental cholesterol that make them not too Kosher for the mind. While the show is going on, if you watch the expression on the participants' faces you can almost see the thick greed engulfing their minds and that of their loved ones who are cheering them to go on and don't give up. Ladies and Gentlemen, is greed a good thing? Greed is the take-all-at-all-cost mentality or the scarcity mentality that perceives life as a pie one wants to capture and control at the expense of others or despite the hurt they inflict on others. Is there Greed in "DEAL OR NO DEAL." I venture to say with a high degree of accuracy that there is much greed in the participants. Their sight is set on the $1,000,000.00 and it seems that all other amount become non-attractive and their appeal quickly fades away. Therefore, while they feed their greed, they deny their need to the extent that from an offer of more than a quarter of a million dollars they offered the participant , he or she continue to play all to realize the dwindling of their funds and to hear Howie say the offer has been now reduced to $100.00. DEAL OR NO DEAL. Folks, if you will succeed in any endeavors, feed your need and starve your greed, or else greed left unchecked, leads to brainless deeds which will eventually become a remorseful and greed, will eventually. In an effort not to miss anything, the participants leave the show loosing everything. Is risk-Taking bad? I do it everyday in business. It is healthy and exciting when the risk is calculated.
The third evil is REMORSE. Remorse is the last card in that vicious cycle. Remorse is the left over from impatient greed and tormenting fear above leaving one with shattered dreams. Remorse is the inescapable and natural virus that infects those who engage in the behavior above while making no room for happiness. If you have such tendencies, I've got news for you, the best of you, the admirable you, will surface and guide you to happiness on earth upon receiving the knowledge to handle such behaviors. If you can temper fear, if you can tame Greed you will also reverse remorse. That is the remedy for long life and a HAPPY YOU.
I
Do you know when to quit?
A bird in the hands . . .
There is a triangle
