Fear creates more of the things you fear. Let me explain.
Elisabeth commented on Do Not Fear the Economic Crisis.
Glad to hear you, Dawud Miracle, and the previous two posters are
doing so well, but I must say this is a depressing post to read after
having spent twelve hours every day for the past five days pounding the
pavement looking for a new job. I was recently laid off due to the
“hype,” and If I don’t find something in the next couple of days I
won’t be able to pay rent and will literally be on the street (medical
bills for family and myself have drained my bank account dry, and some
recent deaths in the family have left me stranded in an unfamiliar
city/state).To whatever degree you choose to believe it, these hardships exist. To REAL people even – people like me.
“Right now you have more opportunity than you may ever see again.” Oh, Mr. Olson… if you could only walk a mile in my shoes…
Continued successes to you and your friends/family.
Take care.
It appears Elisabeth hit an ugly storm of unemployment, poor health, death, while stranded and alone. Elisabeth misunderstood much of what I wrote. That is my fault, I hope she will give me a chance to clarify. In no way, did I mean that hardships do not exist. Suffering exists, no doubt.
Acknowledge Suffering Exists but Never Focus on It
Whenever I write about how you shouldn’t focus on the things you fear, that you shouldn’t feed your worries, that you should avoid media hype, and instead focus on the life you want to create, I get a comment similar to Elisabeth’s.
To Elisabeth and everyone else who is suffering:
I acknowledge you are suffering. I acknowledge that children are starving in Somalia, people are being butchered in wars, people are dying of horrible diseases, children are being abused, and families are homeless.
A family friend is a Director for a non-profit in Bloomington MN. She supplies funds to families about to be evicted from their homes. She is the last stop before the homeless shelter. Most years she handles 2,000 families. This year she has handled 5,000 families.
Look what John Chow is doing for the Union Gospel Mission in Vancouver. He donated 5K, with the hope that you will join his effort to help those in need. I joined him in helping the UGM and I hope you will to.
I acknowledge problems exist and I am not suggesting people become apathetic, quite the opposite.
The Problem With Focusing on Suffering
Fear, worry, and depression make life worse. If you have ever suffered from depression you know how it causes your world to contract. You will not grow when your mental focus creates fear, worry, or depression in your mind. At the macro level, this is exactly what is happening worldwide. Sure some systemic problems served as a catalyst, but the current situation is being fed by fear and lack of faith in the future.
The only thing we have to fear, is fear itself – Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
Focusing on unemployment will not solve an unemployment problem. Focusing on creating jobs will. You will never create the world you want by focusing on the world you hate. Focus on the solution. Focus on the goal. If you are unemployed, focus on creating an income. It is the only long term answer to the problem.
That is the problem with media fear mongering, it perpetuates this problem. Turn it off.
Focusing on suffering creates fear and anger, fear and anger creates hostility, depression, and hoarding, hostility, depression, and hoarding creates a contractionary spiral in your life and the world in general.
So What Should You Focus On?
Focus on the opposite of suffering – happiness, joy, and health and go create them with all the passion you can muster!
Those of us that have jobs and businesses right now, need to redouble our efforts. We need to tap into ourselves and find energy we didn’t know we had. We need to look for opportunity now. We need to grow our businesses and create jobs for people like Elisabeth. Now is not the time to crawl into a shell and cower in fear. Work harder, work smarter, be creative, invest, seize opportunity, and create a better tomorrow. That is the only way out this mess. Fear, apathy, and complacency only create more bankruptcy, poverty, and homelessness. The only difference between yesterday and today is an abstract construct in our minds. This moment right now is all you have. Yesterday may have been lovely, but it is gone forever. So take the present moment and create a better tomorrow.
What other options do you have?
P.S.
To Elisabeth:
If you send me your information, I will do anything reasonable to help you find employment. I will publish your situation and information on this blog, I will twitter it, I will ask my social worker friend what you should do and then publish it here, I will ask every blogger who reads this blog to forward the information on. It is my firm belief that every (yes, I said every) human being has something wonderful and positive to contribute to this world if given a chance. I wish you the very best.