Over the past few months I’ve fallen back into the habit of reading the news. It’s all recession, economic meltdown and toxic debt all the time. It doesn’t help that I work of a bank. A bank that failed last year, was taken over by the FDIC, and then sold to a mega-bank. For the last few months I’ve been hard a work dismantling the company I helped build. A very surreal experience. Even if I avoid the media accounts of what’s happening I’m exposed to the reality of the situation every day at the office. Articles on our company intranet, water cooler chatter, and general lack of morale as we go through the monthly rounds of lay offs. My number is up in a couple of weeks. I count myself lucky for having survived over six months since the colapse.
What is the opportunity that this is? I’m being forced to make a career change. Given the state of the economy and the shortage of opportunities in the job market I don’t think I would have chosen this particular time to voluntarily leave my job. I’m looking at this as an opportunity to examine my life and make some other major changes.
Even if they’re not yet calling this a depression, the citizens of the world are doing their best not to enter into the emotional version of the word. Is it possible to be find happiness and contentment in the midst of an economic meltdown? I’ve learned that how we think about things affects our feelings and our overall emotional state. What I believe is that I’ve been given a chance to look within myself and decide what it is that I value in life and what I want to do in order to live in alignment with my values. I feel optimistic that my life will weather this storm and have a better life because of it.
As my life changes over the next few months I want to remember my desire to keep life simple. Maybe the recession will motivate us all to simplify our lives. People seem to be saving more, reducing debt, and living with less — things, dining out, traveling. This may be bad for the economy but it could turn out to be good on a human level.
Happiness in a Recession
Over the past few months I’ve fallen back into the habit of reading the news. It’s all recession, economic meltdown and toxic debt all the time. It doesn’t help that I work of a bank. A bank that failed last year, was taken over by the FDIC, and then sold to a mega-bank. For the last few months I’ve been hard a work dismantling the company I helped build. A very surreal experience. Even if I avoid the media accounts of what’s happening I’m exposed to the reality of the situation every day at the office. Articles on our company intranet, water cooler chatter, and general lack of morale as we go through the monthly rounds of lay offs. My number is up in a couple of weeks. I count myself lucky for having survived over six months since the colapse.
What is the opportunity that this is? I’m being forced to make a career change. Given the state of the economy and the shortage of opportunities in the job market I don’t think I would have chosen this particular time to voluntarily leave my job. I’m looking at this as an opportunity to examine my life and make some other major changes.
Even if they’re not yet calling this a depression, the citizens of the world are doing their best not to enter into the emotional version of the word. Is it possible to be find happiness and contentment in the midst of an economic meltdown? I’ve learned that how we think about things affects our feelings and our overall emotional state. What I believe is that I’ve been given a chance to look within myself and decide what it is that I value in life and what I want to do in order to live in alignment with my values. I feel optimistic that my life will weather this storm and have a better life because of it.
As my life changes over the next few months I want to remember my desire to keep life simple. Maybe the recession will motivate us all to simplify our lives. People seem to be saving more, reducing debt, and living with less — things, dining out, traveling. This may be bad for the economy but it could turn out to be good on a human level.