I didn’t realize that this week would end up being part two of my blog from last week, but this week we will be talking about “blood money”. What exactly does that mean? One of the things that I spoke about last week was being able to give blood because not everyone is able to. It’s one of the things that I like to do about every 16 weeks. I have not given a huge number; I have given in excess of three gallons. There are people that have given far more.
Here’s what I want you to take away from today: there is some preparation that goes into donating. You need to make certain that you have had a well-balanced meal, drink plenty of liquids, and plan enough time. I typically spend about an hour and a half there because you need to go through the check-in process. You go through health questions, get your iron checked, and have your height, weight and blood pressure checked, etc. All of these things happen before you even have an opportunity to donate. I always give “double-reds”, which means they take blood out and put saline back in. They do this process several times so they can get two units of red blood cells and return your plasma and platelets to you.
I have never had any problems, until this week. As I was nearing the end of my blood donation, the machine broke. It felt like all the work that I had done the last 16 weeks and the preparations that I had gone through that day were all a waste. The machine broke and everything that they had received had to be thrown away. Now I don’t have a chance to do this for another 16 weeks.
Have you ever felt like last year’s stock return was kind of like blood money, like you were letting blood out, but you didn’t get anything in return? Take a look at the Dow Jones graph below from last year.
Dow Jones Industrial Average Year 2022
Commentators are saying that last year was the worst year in the stock market since 2008. Does that mean that you should never invest in the stock market again? Does having one bad experience giving blood mean that I should never give blood again? Overall, I’ve actually had a really good experience. I love the people that are serving at the blood drives and oftentimes the blood drives are at local churches who are trying to help out for all the right reasons.
Am I just going to give up on donating blood? Am I going to simply give up because of what the market did last year? Now take a look at the Dow Jones graph below, which shows a period over the last 10 years.
Dow Jones Industrial Average 2012-2022
If you look at this 10-year graph, it shows the upswings of good experiences and the downswings of bad experiences or downturns in the market. I want to keep being appropriately invested. I want to keep on giving blood whenever I can because it makes a difference. One bad experience donating blood is not going to keep me from doing it ever again. Sometimes, you might feel like you’re just letting your blood out and you’re not getting anything in return. You may be looking at a relatively short period of time as opposed to the lifetime of investment experiences you’ve encountered.
If you are still unsure and if you need someone to hold your hand and to explain this in greater detail looking at your own individual account, that’s what we’re here for.
