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A Penny for Every Dollar Wasted
Money and Baby Boomers is a favorite topic at this point, but there seems to be a lot of divergence about whether we have money, need money or are giving it all away. I don’t know where you stand in the mix, but my thoughts are that we have had a pretty good run for our money.
If I had a penny for every dollar wasted over the course of my lifetime, I don’t think I’d be concerned at all about what the future holds for me. For the most part, we earned more money than our parents ever did, but we also created more debt than them. We’re consumers with a capital C. We have more toys than are good for us, and we do expect to have it all, because we always have. Some people say we are the narcissistic generation concerned only about immediate gratification. Well, that might have been true, but it’s not anymore.
We have been called the ‘shallowest generation” and been blamed for many of the ills that society is suffering through at this time. I think that is a heavy rap. There are lots of other generations involved in this present economic debacle.
We have lived the good life, but unfortunately, we have gone into tremendous debt in order to finance it. We’ve gone from a 12% savings rate in 1980 to 0% in 2008. This refusal to take fiscal responsibility is now coming home to haunt us. But, it is not just the Boomers to blame. Government has had a heavy hand in this over the last few decades and it’s time for a change.
Many of us are tightening our belts, taking a hard look at where we spend our money, and cutting out all the extraneous expenses. In my own life, I took a hard look at what we spend money on, and found there were quite a few things we could live without.
I have no problem with the idea that we are in a recession. Lean years are cause for course-correction, and re-establishment of financial balance. We are getting our priorities straight and hopefully, in the coming years, we will see improved productivity, savings, and a decrease in the national deficit. More importantly, as I see it, many of us are in a recession of the mind. We are living in a state of deprivation, and that deprivation mentality will make you crazy.
There are some serious issues at hand here. Deprivation is caused by the fear of loss; of living with less; of being poor. It causes great mental anxiety, and brings out our worst fears. While we are cutting back on some of the things we’ve had in our lives, most of us still have a roof over our heads, a job that pays the bills, and money in the bank. For that reason alone, for this moment, everything is the same. Where we get off track is when our mind casts forward to a year from now, or five years from now, and we start worrying about whether we will have a job, a home, enough saved up to live on for the rest of our lives.
The trouble with this way of thinking is that you are placing yourself into the future, projecting where you will end up, and you have absolutely no way of knowing if you are correct. The depressing thing is, if you really believe that it will be that way, then there is a good chance you will create the very scenario you don’t want to happen.
Now, I’m not advocating the Pollyanna (overly optimistic) approach, or the head-in-the-sand mentality, but I’d like you to consider this: If nothing changed in your life, and you continued to move through it as you are now, comfortable to a degree with your finances and the ‘things’ in your life, would that be enough? If the answer is yes, then I suggest you concentrate on that thinking. In truth, there is no other reality than the one we are presently living. In the moment, as I write this article, everything in my life is in balance. Tomorrow could be a different story, but I’m not a fortune-teller, so I have no way of knowing. I can only keep my thinking in the present. That way, I’m almost guaranteed to have peace of mind. Now is the only time I can control. Right this minute.
So move beyond the recession mind and get into the abundance of NOW. Peace of mind is within your grasp if you can keep yourself out of the negativity. Turn off the television; don’t immerse yourself in the news. It’s generated to keep you in discomfort. Most of it is spin, and frequently the numbers are misleading. Create your own reality. It’s the only one that counts.
About the Author
Overcome deprivation mindset. Learn what your greatest challenges and fears are, and how to overcome them. Jacqueline’s free eBook gets you there. The 4 Easy Steps Click to download your copy today.