Is It Recession or Depression and There Is No Scarcity

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Is It Recession or Depression?

‘ “It is a recession when your daughter loses her job,” Harry Truman observed, “and it’s a depression when you lose your own.” As downturns in the economy disturb more and more households, we begin to question seriously the financial yardstick by which we have been measuring our personal net worth and therefore our happiness.

Perhaps the recession has personally affected you and yours. It’s hard to believe there’s anybody that it hasn’t touched, at least indirectly. Millions of women are scaling down their expectations of what constitutes the good life, redefining their values, reordering their priorities, and accepting the challenge of making a virtue out of necessity. But it’s very easy to surrender to an emotional depression when a financial one occurs. It’s easy to be pessimistic about tomorrow when today seems so bleak.

It’s time we put thoughts of lack behind us. It’s time for us to discover the secrets of the stars, to sail to an uncharted land, to open up a new heaven where our spirits can soar. But first we’ll have to make changes. And lasting change does not happen overnight. Lasting change happens in infinitesimal increments: a day, an hour, a minute, a heartbeat at a time. And the change I’m encouraging you to make with me is fundamental. Take a deep breath. We’re going to learn to become optimists.

Now be reassured. Optimism, like the happiness habit, can be learned. Start today with a little experiment. Smile at everyone you meet. Today expect something good to happen to you no matter what occurred yesterday. Realize the past no longer holds you captive. It can only continue to hurt you if you hold onto it. Let the past go. A simply abundant world awaits.’ -Sarah Ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance A Daybook of Comfort and Joy

‘When you are worried about your health or the health of a loved one, your concentration focuses like a laser. Suddenly there’s a clarity about all of life because you realize what is important. Living is important. every day is a gift. You ask for another chance to get it right. Most of the time you’re given it, and you’re grateful.

But worries of money mock you. They steal the joy of living because they follow you around all day like a dark, menacing shadow. At night they hover at the foot of your bed waiting to rob you of sleep. When you’re worried about money you dread the days and you agonize at night. Without thinking you throw away every precious twenty-four hours that come your way. You cease to live, and merely exist.

If you are worried about money today, take heart. You have the power to change your lifestyle and move from a feeling of lack and deprivation to a feeling of abundance and fulfillment. Money ebbs and flows in our lives. What should remain constant is our realization that abundance is our spiritual brightlight. American gospel singer Mahalia Jackson once said that “It is easy to be independent when you’ve got money. But to be independent when you haven’t got a thing- that’s the Lord’s test.”

This is what I have learned and share with the seeker in you. The simpler we make our lives, the more abundant they become.

There is no scarcity except in our souls.’ – Sarah Ban Breathnach, Simple Abundance A Daybook of Comfort and Joy