The other day I overheard a woman at the grocery store saying, “My 401K is not okay!” One reason for this may be that “Americans are pulling money from their 401(k)s at an alarming rate to pay bills. Meanwhile, Americans are piling up record credit card debt and falling behind on those payments,” as CNN’s Allison Morrow recently reported.1 All of us who go to the supermarket, have kids whose shoes wear out quickly, or want to buy a house know prices are high! “Experts” claim the economy is stable and the job market is good, but many people are struggling. Uncertainty reigns. And that isn’t taking into account myriad heart-rending wars, the climate crisis, healthcare, and political maelstroms that, at best, resemble runaway circus trains. And, at worst, look like integrity- less, helter-skelter, dishonest insane asylums.
Rarely able to hang our hopes on external circumstance, we need to enhance our ability to nullify fear and create a sustainable haven of hope within, an inner sanctuary of peace and positivity. From that place of personal certainty and balance, we can plan for the future while not living in fear of it. Plus, from a stable center, we are better able to make conscious and constructive contributions to the challenges facing us and our world.
Excerpted from How to Stay Upbeat in a Beat Down World by Sue Patton Thoele. Available on Amazon.
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