Survival Skills during the Financial Storm…

Here are my list of ideas of maintaining my sanity and my sense of living a life of abundance, which, in particular, are coming in handy during the recent seeming unpleasantness of the financial whirlwind we-all are finding ourselves in…

First, I have to say that I don't think that we're going to come out of this the same as we went into it. I think that we've gotten a HUMUNGOUS wake-up call that the end of the era of the "Conqueror" and "World Superpowers" is upon us. The world is Way too interconnected to think that you can one-up your neighbor anymore, without consequences to yourself. I think the best thing to do is get used to knowing that our whole life is fundamentally changing for the better. And we are, right now, in the birth pains of this transition.

Feel free to respond with your own ideas...

1. Enjoy things that are Priceless…

Invite friends over for a potluck dinner and board games night.
Pet your animal and give it a really good brushing.
Babysit your friends kids (or your own) for free.
Take a bath.
Slow dance your love in your living room.

2. Take advantage of having a network of friends…
Learn something new that’s on your “to do” list… and swap skills rather than pay for them. There’s even a website devoted to this: http://www.skillbound.com/ where you can extend your network to take this on. Brilliant.
Trade time with your friends – “Babysit” each other if you have difficulty getting motivated doing things like, de-cluttering. It’s easier to make decisions on things you don’t have an emotional attachment to.

3. Focus on what you HAVE that is GOOD.

Spend as little time as is possible focusing on the “Problems”… whether its fear, or lack, or whatever it might be. Focusing on the “problems” merely amplifies them, according to the “Law of Attraction” – It’s the old “punchbuggy” game you played on the bus with your friends going to school.. You’ll see VW bugs EVERYWHERE for the next few days after playing this game. Stop reading the news that tells you about all the terrible things happening to other people. Really… AND DON’T SHARE THESE NEGATIVE THINGS WITH ME. I already know about them if they're all over the news. People can be awful. I’ll deal with it if it happens to me. If its not funny, don’t tell me about it.

4. Be Generous.

If your friends are in a place of real need, extend a helping hand where you can… Not so much that you put yourself into a sinkhole, but give from what you have in abundance.

Donate your time to a worthy cause if you find you have more time than you did a few months ago.

Meditate and pray for your loved ones, your friends, and your foes. We really are all in this together.

5. Be Smart, Creative, Flexible

The "problems" cannot be solved by thinking of solutions in the same place we were when we created them. Everybody hears that and knows that, but we've entered a place where a lot of people are truly panicking and sad and forgot that anyone ever said that. Think of how you can learn from this. Take a thorough and calm eye to your life and what you've accumulated and ask what you can do differently, right now.

Do you need cable and internet at home? What about the gym membership? What routine expenses can you let go of? Can you take in a boarder or roommate? Can you reduce the temperature on your water heater just a bit?

6. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Really. This is not the time to be a hoarder. If you have something you're not using (like 3 lifetimes supplies of paperclips), give it up as an offering to the Gods of Chaos that are consuming resources. Secondhand manufactured products are going to be relatively more valuable than they were a little while ago, because money is in shorter supply. Declutter. Sell your books back to Strand (or whoever). Donate what you don't need. Have a tag sale or stoop sale (they are sure to come back in vogue this summer) . Take advantage of freecycle, craigslist, your local flea markets, and your friends. Oh yes, and declutter emotionally too! Release and forgive all your ex-boy/girl friends, your 7th grade teacher, and that bully who used to step on your shoes. Give it up. It's over. We are surrounded by STUFF. Most of which we don't really enjoy very much. Get organized, bit by little bit if necessary.

Oh yes. and its a good time to learn to say NO to any events or obligations or activities or conversations you don't enjoy. Declutter that stuff too.

AND... act locally, think globally. Buying locally manufactured products & foods and keeping things out of the waste stream makes a lot of sense now. Think about the impact for more than just yourself when you're making choices. And really... take vacations in your own country rather than travelling overseas.

7. Cheap Eats

Lentils are ridiculously cheap and tasty. I suggest boiling brown lentils with whole garlic cloves and dried porcini mushrooms over egg noodles. Buy the cheap cut of chicken and make Coq Au Vin (that's what the recipe was designed for to begin with... the cheap cut of chicken). Enjoy Chef Boyardee with a glass of good wine. Canned tomato soup tastes great with a little polenta stirred into it. Make beef stew. Break out the recipe books and look for ideas. Plant a garden, or make good friends with that person you know who will have way too many zucchini and tomatoes come spring.

8. If you have the money and honestly want something, or want to do something, don't be afraid to spend.

Well, stimulating the economy is a good idea, isn't it? If you have the coin, there is a sale going on right now on ____(fill in the blank)_____) This state of being won't go on forever, you know.

9. Seek out whatever you can to find pleasure in the circumstances you find yourself in. If you can't find joy, pick the best feeling that you can feel right now... Even if that means something closer to sadness... and then from there, do it again. Like climbing up a hill, one step at a time.

10. When all else fails -- Laugh. You don't have control of any of what's going on, and nobody else does either.

P.S... I know some of you out there are going to think I'm living inside a happy delusional pink bubble. I'm OK with that. You can think that. (P.S. Bubbles float.) Maybe its because I used to spend WAY too much time panicking and worrying about a lot of things, and have found out it was a lousy way to live... and generally panicking made me less able to have a positive, lasting impact on my surroundings. I'll take my happy bubble, thanks... So glad you're doing all the worrying so I don't have to...