Restoring Sanity Amidst Fear-Mongering

In the midst of this whole financial crisis, I've found myself longing for a leader with an inspirational message. A leader who would come out and, in FDR's manner, tell us that we have nothing to fear but fear itself. A leader who'll remind us all that, rather than falling prey to panic, we should be focusing on the great things awaiting us. A leader who, rather than scaring us, will urge us to rise above the pettiness of it all and restore our faith in our great destiny.

Who will tell me, in the manner of Eleanor Roosevelt: "I gain strength, courage and confidence by every experience in which I must stop and look fear in the face...I say to myself, I’ve lived through this and can take the next thing that comes along"? 

But since there's no such leader in sight, it looks like I'll have to come up with an inspirational message all by myself... So here are some words of wisdom of my own for these trying times:

1. Refuse to panic. Fear-mongering may be the daily fare of the talking heads, but you – you can choose against joining in the doom and gloom. Turn off the TV and choose to be in the company of people with a more positive view of life. If there are no such people in your life, keep your own counsel. It's better to be alone than surround yourself with those who infect you with panic and fear.

2. Take a big-picture perspective. Sure, the world as you know it as changing. Who would have thought, even a couple of months ago, that Lehman Brothers and JP Morgan would disappear from our financial landscape? For that matter, though, who ever thought that Enron would? And how about that old monster, the Soviet Union?

The Buddha, as always, was right: life is about change, and if you think otherwise, you're clinging to an illusion. Institutions come and go, and so do economic, financial, and political crises. Life, on the other hand, goes on.

Here's my bold, big-picture prediction: No matter the outcome of the Senate vote tonight, the Fall will still be ravishingly beautiful in the Shenandoah valley, winter will be cold in Siberia, and the birds will continue chirping outside my window.  N no matter who becomes president on November 4, the sun will rise every day and the rivers will continue to flow.

Life went on after other crises, and it will again. Are you living it in such a way as to say, at the end of it, that you lived a life of few or no regrets?  That's the real question we all need to answer.

3. Nurture your mind with great thoughts. In the words of Benjamin Disraeli, "to believe in the heroic makes heroes." So rather than filling your mind with fear-mongering, fill it with something that inspires you. Who are your heroes? Who are the people you want to emulate? There is nothing like a time of transition, in which we find ourselves now, to reconsider what's important for you and readjust your life's course to make sure that you are moving exactly in the direction you want to be.

4. Security comes from within. If you were working for Lehman Brothers, you, too, probably thought that you had a secure job. You learned first-hand that no external source can provide you with that security. Now may be as good a time as any to ask yourself what security really means to you. If the company you work for now disappeared from under you, where would you draw your sense of security from? Hint:  look on the inside, where it's always been and where it always will be.  No external source – job, marriage, relationship, bank account – can give it to you. Reconnect with your inner sense of security, and you will never again depend on external circumstances to live an abundant and prosperous life.

5. Get grateful for what you have. "Complaints erase good fortune. Appreciation builds joy for all eternity." How about that one from Taro Gold? No comment necessary.

6. Tighten your circle. We are constantly urged to broaden our network, but here's a bit of a contrary advice. Rather going out in search of new contacts, how about consolidating the friendships and family relationships you already have? These are the people who love you and to whom you mean a lot. Now may be as good a time as any to begin overlooking the little irritations they've caused you and forgiving the small mistakes they've made. Strengthen the relationships you have. Create the sense of stability from within. You really do already have everything you need to feel happy and secure.

Comments

[gl hoffman]

Well said, now if only we had more real leaders in Washington, DC.

[Izabella Tabarovsky]

Hey GL - I'm right here, in Washington, DC! :)))

[Farzad]

Dear Izabella,

I am impressed by your guidance on "Restoring Sanity Amidst Fear-Mongering." Everything you are saying, all six items make complete sense. Number 5 and number 6 remind me of a quote I heard from a colleague in Iraq back in 2006.

At that time I was developing my own philosophies on life and happiness, and had arrived at my own recipe for happiness, a kind of rebellious one: "Happiness is total disregard for perceived reality." My colleague, a lower grade employee, but a combat award winner when he was a young Marine in Vietnam, shared his idea: "Happiness is in wanting what you have, not having what you want!"

Trust me, when I heard that, in that hot night in Bagdad with flying ants all over us everywhere, and clear skies, I heard a thunder in the skies of my mind. It is absolutely true, if we don't want what we have, we will never have what we want!

Strengthening the relationships within the smaller network that we already have, our family circle and close friends, is a sure fire way of increasing the opportunities of easy loving, thereby truly feeling love and without searching for new and enlarged circles and networks we don't know anything about.

My two cents and with my great appreciation for what you are providing everyone here.

Farzad