Rubbing my eyes and squinting at the light.

A friend described me today as having a gambler's personality, extremist in most of what I do. My thoughts are akin to those who get involved in get-rich-quick schemes, as I am always striving to get the edge that would put me overnight in the same position as a one who would work and sweat for fourty years. Take for example, patent law -- now with a specialty in Chinese IP (Intellectual Propery). I could have been a regular lawyer and worked my way up the salary ladder. Nope, I chose a hard-to-enter field and specialized within an already established niche. Instead of started in the mid-five-figure salary, with my specialty I plan on starting in the low six-figure salary. Does that make me a gambler?

I was told that from the depth of what this person knows about me, this gambling personality filters down into everything that I do. I am thinking deeply about this concept because I cannot yet grasp it, but I wanted to write it down so that I can think about it later. I wonder what exactly is the mentality of a gambler, and how that mentality could influence the parts of one's life. I'd be interested in getting your feedback on this one because it is still eluding me.

Second. It spooked me that one of you saw through my words and sensed the other side that I like to keep outwardly locked away. It made me wonder whether my bad parts are truly hidden or if people everywhere see them just as you did yesterday. This is what prompted the whole analysis in the last post.

Lastly, I think deeply about the view of the world that is hidden from me. There is so much dogma that has been supplanted with the truth that has impregnated me with religious morals that I sometimes am foggy about distinguishing what is real Judaism and what is custom and from what source this custom has its roots. I suppose it does not matter as long as I am among others who think this way, but it is good to know Jewish law for it's own sake to know what the law really is without stringencies added on and passed as actually being the law.