We cannot choose our external circumstances,
but we can always choose how we respond to them
- Epictetus (c.55 – c.135 C.E.)
Each of us has been challenged in one way or another by the current economic downturn.
A new friend, Matt Weinstein, is an award winning motivational speaker who was recently “taken” in a well-known financial scam that affected many. He offers a powerful and inspiring story about how Bernie Madoff “took his money, but not his soul and the rest of his life.”
What about your life?
- Are there ways that your life has been positively changed by the current economic downturn?
- How have you found hope, simplicity and/or fulfillment in these challenging times?
Please add your comments below…
Have a great week!
Steve
561 450-8662
{ 3 comments… read them below or add one }
Thanks Steve
During this time my wife and I have increased the intensity of our meditation and other spiritual practices because we have more time in the early mornings (and far less money). I also have focused more on what I am passionate about – sustainability and the environment and am connecting with others hoping to find a way to make this a core part of my consulting practice. In a way reinventing my professional self. I still have anxiety abut my finances because our fixed costs don’t go away, they just eat into retirement savings and I have less money to donate to charities I love. We have never been big consumers – I believe experiences last longer than material goods, so we just celebrated our 25th anniversary spending 4 weeks in China on a Sierra Club trip & visiting friends – planned 18 months ago the recession reduced any concern about missing work!!
Thanks Steve for your inspirational and powerful posting.
As I listened to Matt talking about finding all his life savings disappearing in an instant, made me wonder how I would feel if I was in his shoes. We certainly do not always have control over external circumstances and it is also true that we do have a choice at how we react. We all have different coping mechanisms. For me , feeling that I have control over my own life gives me the resilience of being able to cope with life’s challenges.
The feeling of lightness that comes from minimizing “unnecessary acquisitions” makes room for us to see the precious things that we have in our lives. Matt Weinstien realizes that his soul and being has not been taken away from him. He has a choice as how he will live his life and not take the burden of the experience with Madoff consume him. What he says about love, connections and how we create our community is what gives us the feeling of true happiness and real wealth. I feel this now more then ever before in my own life. Surrounding myself with people I care for and people who care for me is what matters most. I agree with Karen, we as a society need to look at “having enough” to sustain and save this planet.
Someone once told me a story that I would like to share with you:
Extraterrestrials are observing our planet and are trying to understand the goings on earth. After some time, they finally come to the conclusion that the purpose of people is to take care of their “masters”. They assume that the masters are their cars. They watch us from above, washing them with care, feeding them regularly with liquid gold, taking them for regular check-ups and at the end of the day, putting them into their individual “homes”. They conclude that people are the slaves and that cars are the masters.
If we look at our lives from that point of view, it does appear that we have become slaves to our possessions. This downturn will hopefully reawaken many of us as to what truly matters as Matt’s experience has reawakened him.
Hi Steve, thanks so much for this great post. Matt sure has a lot of heart. I think the biggest way the downturn has actually improved my life is how I’ve now, in earnest, started to shed the consumer aspect of my identity and replace that drive with real human connection, for example, spending more time with the children in my life…playing with the toys they have instead of trying to buy them the latest gizmo. And this is a change that I plan to last my lifetime. I think we need this, as a society – we need to slow down and learn to be content with “I have enough”. Because this is exactly what is needed in order to literally save our home… our earth, our planet.