What really matters

An interesting story featured in the news: a successful broker left his luxury to become an Orthodox monk. "Brother Nikanor, a Nasdaq broker turned monk, advises former colleagues to put a jar with soil on their desks to remind them where we are all heading and what matters in life."

"Being a trader has seldom been more traumatic: placing bets on political decisions about billion-dollar bank bailouts which, if they fail, could mean much more than a bad day for yourself or colleagues, but also jeopardise livelihoods."

"Some have found solace in religion, others in humour, but a few fall. Surveys show traders reporting more stress and every news report of a trader suicide is accompanied by suggestions the pressure may have been too much."

"We always search for happiness in the outside world, in material things, which makes us constantly unsatisfied, angry with ourselves and the world," says Mishkov, exuding tranquillity, intelligence and humour."

"Greed and the marketisation of our lives have reached the point where people have been turned into a commodity - even our health can be traded like a stock, he says."

"We have so quickly lost our human appearance, we have become beasts ... There's no one to count on and say `hey neighbour come help me'. He will come but demand a payment."

"Mishkov says the crash should help correct a dangerous global trend of an excessive outflow of labour to the service sectors with its lure of high pay and an easy life."

"Milk is not produced by computers, bread doesn't come from a good company PR," says the monk."It is necessary to plough, sow and harvest before that."

Now think about that!