How many legs does a dog have if you call the tail a leg?  Four. Calling a tail a leg doesn't make it a leg.  ~Abraham Lincoln

An Economic Reality Check: Time to get out of our own way

Devlyn Steele

     The only thing that stands between you and change is you.  Often this is a hard concept to accept because we feel that we are not responsible for where we are in life. True, maybe the circumstances that have lead to where you are were not your fault. Maybe you have been affected by the downward economy and have lost your job or had your home foreclosed.  Maybe your relationship partner cheated on you and has left you. Maybe you trusted one of the endless scandalous Wall Street investors and ended up with your life savings lost.  Maybe you are a victim of a drunk driver.

     All these things do happen and much more that we certainly did not cause these events onto ourselves. Still the only thing that stands between you and changing where you are is you.  Even though we are not responsible for how we got to where we are, we are responsible for staying where we are. Whether our fault or not, we do several things that keep us trapped in the circumstances we end up in:

1.  We develop the persona of "Victim" and feel powerless

2.  We focus on Anger

3.  We spend time indulging in a sense of loss and regret

4.  We refuse to accept our new circumstances

5.  We concentrate on how to be what we were instead of what we need to be now

     Although there are many areas of life that this applies to, I felt this subject is particularly important in today's economy.  I feel it's time for some straight talk. The fact of the matter is that our economic circumstances have changed and are continuing to change. True, I am not an economist, but you don't need to be one to understand that we need to look at how we think.

            Home values are down 25% or more and have not hit bottom

            There are more than 2 million empty homes in the US right now

            Wall Street bubble popped with the DOW below 740--about half its all time high

            The banks and financial institutions need so much bail out it seems as though they   are becoming nationalized

            There are more than 5 million people unemployed and the numbers are growing

     We need a reality check. The focus is so much on how do we fix it to get it back to where it was, instead of how to we build it to a new strength. It is the typical thinking that is such a trend that I talk about in Self Help--finding the instant cure, the fast diet, the 6 week instant abs, the get rich quick scheme. We are under that frame of thinking as a nation. Pour a bailout of billions of dollars into the economy and everything should be fine. We so much want to believe that there is a way to fix everything quickly. I cannot say if the bailout will work, or not. However, I do believe that things change over time. Everything in life can improve with time and work. I think the reality check is that we have to understand what the economic situation is now, and how to manage it, while we work to improve it over time. 

     It is as though we do not want to accept the accident we have had. Imagine you were in a car accident and your legs were severely broken. No matter how much you want to return to your life as it was you need to first set the bones right and then put them in an environment to heal, the cast. Then after the bones are healed you will have to retrain your legs to walk. It might take daily physical therapy for a prolonged period and it maybe a long time before you ever run again, or you may have to concentrate on new areas of your life altogether. You can build new strengths as you work at your life.

     No matter how much you want to run as you did and no matter how much you want it today there are several things that do not change. You cannot change your circumstances today, you cannot change the process, and you cannot force things to return to how they were.

     We may not be responsible for the accident that broke our legs, but that does not change anything. It doesn't change the reality we are in. So being a victim and concentrating on how angry you are, indulging in your loss, not accepting where you are today and focusing on what your life was before instead of what you need to do now will keep you trapped in the state you are in. You will not do what you need to do, and so you stay in your circumstance longer.

     In today's economy you need to look at where you are today, not where you were yesterday. Maybe your life style will have to adjust. Maybe you can't go out to dinner like you used to. Maybe we cannot buy as much. Maybe instead of trying to get the same type of job we will have to learn new skills or transfer our skills to a new industry. 

     The reality is you can discover new ways to enjoy life. Dinner at home with the family, walks, and quality time. It is interesting how tough times can actually bring people closer together and a new quality of life can emerge. The reality is you can reapply yourself to the workforce and get back to work and start from a new place.

     We cannot as individuals focus on being angry. We cannot force things back to where they were. We need to rebuild as individuals and as a nation and what that leads to might be a different picture. I don't know what the outcome will be; I do know we can work towards positive change for ourselves, as a nation and as a global community. You are powerful and you can change your life.

     The only obstacle between you and rebuilding is you. Concentrate not on what was, but on what you need to do today, and relearning to walk in this new economy.

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