Reader and friend Dan sent me this e-mail the other day…
“During the financial crisis I find myself checking your blog multiple times a day for some spiritual relief!”
I don’t know if I’ll provide any spiritual relief, but I do have some thoughts on recent events, and since you asked…
So it’s being reported that the fall of these Wall Street institutions and subsequent bailouts has erased something like 1 trillion dollars of wealth. One trillion. Big number.
That’s such a big number that yesterday I got a letter from my stock advisor dude. This pretty much sums up his message. (God, I love YouTube!)
First, I find it interesting to look at what is at the core of this event. Not in the sense of blame (greed! foolishness! instant gratification society! blah blab blah), but understanding the true dynamics of what occurred.
What happened was a crisis of confidence. The quote below makes the point well.
What we are witnessing may be the greatest destruction of financial wealth that the world has ever seen — paper losses measured in the trillions of dollars. Corporate wealth. Oil wealth. Real estate wealth. Bank wealth. Private-equity wealth. Hedge fund wealth. Pension wealth. It’s a painful reminder that, when you strip away all the complexity and trappings from the magnificent new global infrastructure, finance is still a confidence game — and once the confidence goes, there’s no telling when the selling will stop. — Steven Pearlstein from the Washington Post, 9/18/2008
For all the dollars in circulation, there’s no gold in the treasury backing the value of that currency. The U.S. government did away with that a long time ago. They just kept printing money and we all entered into the collective agreement that little slips of colored paper carry some value.
My point is this — money is made up. An idea. Confidence. A belief.
Never forget that!
That’s the good news. If money is a belief, then guess who’s in charge? You, my friend. You are in charge. Not Wall Street. Not stock tickers. Not talking heads on television. Not “the economy” or the “housing market.” Not computer screens telling you your balance of the value of your IRA. Not bills that arrive in the mail.
You.
You are in charge of your feeling and beliefs about money. You are in charge of the degree to which you allow money to flow into your life.
Of course, there’s a catch to this good news. This requires you to be responsible for how you feel about money, responsible for your confidence level, and responsible for the beliefs you allow to touch your life…
As you might guess, this is where most people fall off the wagon. In fact, most jump off and head for zee hills, screaming. The REALITY they say (with a charge in their voice) is that I’m worth less than I was yesterday! I won’t be able to retire! My business will dry up in this slow economy! I’m doomed, man! Don’t you hear me? Dooooooomed!
You get the idea.
And I say, if that’s the reality you choose — if you forfeit responsibility for managing how you feel with regard to money and lose your cool — well, money will return the favor.
Again, we’re told a trillion dollars evaporated. And certainly, that’s a sobering number. But you know what? I didn’t feel a thing. The next morning the sun still came up. The geese flew by. My coffee was hot. The 80 bucks I had in my money clip was still there. My cat kept eating flies. My wife still seemed to dig me.
If I were to check online at my investments, my guess is that the numbers on the screen would be different than the month before. Probably lower. But I invest for the long haul, so I don’t much concern myself with volatility. And the greater truth is that I’m only really concerned with how I feel today. I’m not thinking about retirement. I do not believe in the concept of “security” (it’s a euphemism for living in fear).
I’m focused on the now. And I believe that if I focus on now, feel good… well let’s just say that living this way works much better for me that spending my time worrying about a boogeyman (or boogeymen) who supposedly looms just around the dark corner, waiting to pounce on me. In this moment, right now, the only moment we have, everything is cool. Why go anywhere else in your mind?
In short, this requires you to live in the present and actively manage how you feel in any given moment. Many people say this is folly, foolish, maybe even dangerous. They believe that it’s more responsible or more helpful to hem, haw, and worry. So be it. I’ve given up my need to convert anyone — we’re all free to choose how we want to live.
But I’ll say this in closing. A common goal (one that I have to) is financial freedom. But it’s critical to remember that that freedom does not exist in a bank statement, an investment account, or in little slips of colored paper. True freedom exists in only one place: Your mind.
Why not choose that? Right now.
Thank You, this feels good!
you are welcome, bunny.
thanks for reading it…
d
Great post Drew. It truly is in one’s mind. I’ve been noticing in my life recently that my mind wanders to fear. It’s not a place I like to be. My son and all the wonder of a new child helps me live in the now. Love the new Warhol-esque photo collage. Dig it.
hi Mary Ann –
the message i am committed to spreading is that of personal responsibility/managing your own vibration…
do this and the world opens up.
i would think that a child would focus you… on the wonder, on the good…
as for the new header, thanks for noticing…! spend an hour or so (always more than i plan) noodling around for something new… the photo and the effect, came straight from the built in camera on my macbook. was playing around with it a few weeks ago as i was listening to some music…
just fun, you know?
thanks for reading!
warmest,
drew
Thanks so much for this Drew! I always enjoy your thoughts – and they keep me on track. It’s so easy to get dragged into a fearful place by all these news items, but the truth is, I felt like an incredibly fortunate person a month ago, and I still feel that way today!
Drew,
This is some absolutely fantastic information regarding money and what it represents in our lives! My 2 daughters and I rented a cabin on a lake outside Hot Springs, AR. We just sat down to dinner when Hurricane Ike came blowing through knocking out all power. There’s nothing quite like suddenly finding yourself in total darkness in a fairly remote place you’ve barely had time to check out. No power, cell phone service only sporadically, one person is oxygen dependent, and the owner of the cabin is in Colorado at the time. Through divine guidance, resourcefulness, fortitude, and the help of some truly wonderful people, we had quite an adventure! People from a medical supply company in Hot Springs delivered oxygen bottles they filled from home (no power at their store) using their personal vehicles, refilled my daughter’s bottles, and only charged $80. They were willing to do this as long as necessary. We met a power company employee through a bizarre coincidence. He was on alert to go to Texas the next day. He asked a buddy doing local work to try to get the power back on earlier than predicted, and this happened (3 days vs 6). A man we met in Wal-Mart, who didn’t know us from Adam’s housecat (we even live in a different state), offered to bring us one of his generators. These were the standouts but there were other people who performed many kindnesses as well. This proves to me that if we all pull together and help each other we can get through anything and everything. It does take willingness, however.
I agree life is an elusion, don’t know that it does any good to worry. What I have invested is not coming out any time soon. Same with my real estate, not selling at this time.
Hi Drew,
~Love your post about sheding light on choosing to either worry about the future or be present.
I relate to your statement, “In short, this requires you to live in the present and actively manage how you feel in any given moment.”
My experience is growing where if I’m living in the present moment, it is the most peaceful and most empowering place to live, and I notice that the present moment does not take my energy. It took a few years of debugging, practicing and experiencing being present to get myself out of my own way, but the outcome is that now money comes to me in ways I would not have imagined. I have invested in ways that I receive big returns even in the state the economy is in now. It just shows me that by direct experiences like these, I am not the doer, but just along for the ride and when I align with existance, I feel soooo much more relaxed.
hi Marlene —
great story…
in many ways, sounds “magical”
i’m a big fan of creating magical experiences… or perhaps it’s better to say “allowing” them to happen.
in my experience, in order for them to happen, it requires us to get out of the way and remain in is positive state. that’s the willingness that i notice….
again, great story and thanks for sharing…
d
carol —
a guns-n-roses lyric comes to mind…
“i don’t worry about nuthin’, no, cause one it’s a waste of my… time”
thanks for indulging me 🙂
d
Kim —
i like to say living this way is simple, but it’s not easy…
consciousness takes effort…
thanks for your thoughts…
d
Susan —
could not agree more
🙂
thanks for your clear thoughts!
d
I was away in Bali at an Entrepreneur’s Business School last week so didn’t even hear the news until I got back. What I love is that the confidence is there in Asia and I’m sticking with that feeling.
Cheers, Sharon
Hey Drew,
I really like this post but I’m struggling with my years and years of conditioning that money is my “oxygen” and “safety.” When I look at my bank account and see more money, it’s like I have more gas in my car. Or a big, wide, deep safety net that will provide me with access to the resources I need to truly live my life. Less money, and I get worried my car will breakdown or the net has brown in many places, and all that’s left are a few threads holding it together. I really like the idea of choosing how I wish to feel in the present, but it’s just so damn hard to turn off these beliefs that have been running for years and years and year. Especially when I’ve been believing that my anxiety over money is a healthy anxiety in the sense that it forces me to (1) work/support myself my family, (2) make smart financial choices in terms of getting into and out of the market. So to turn that off scares the s*it out of me, as it seems like an all-or-nothing type of thing.
Sorry for rambling, but wanted to share my thoughts and see if anybody else can relate to this feeling. It’s funny, I have what many people would consider “a lot” of money (and my friends get mad at me for even complaining), but I often feel like I’m a step away from food stamps. Gosh, I really need to get back into therapy ;-).
hi Dan —
thanks for sharing myself…
lots of great points…
recommend listening the Barriers to Very Cool Living call (in post above) as i hit lots of these points there…
first, you mention that giving up your fear seems like an all or nothing thing…
it kinda is… somewhere in there you need to come to the awareness that, in simplest terms, all choices can be boiled to down fear or love… feels good or feels bad. to tune into where you are coming from requires you to tune into your FEELINGS (rather than you thinking and beliefs) about things…
conditioning is a powerful, powerful force. living free of this requires consciousness and desire and courage… yes, you have to act in harmony with your feelings. and yes, this will most likely feel risky for a while…
but here’s the payoff…
you really do not care about money. no one does. money is just colored paper, numbers on a screen or printout…
what you care about is the feeling that having money brings into your life — FREEDOM
the freedom to do as you wish, when you wish, with whom you wish, where you wish…
freedom feels good!
the point being this… living your life in choosing “healthy anxieties” (I love that one, btw), chasing security (code for living in total fear)… coming at life from this perspective you will NEVER feel truly free in your relationship with your money.
matters not how much you have, either… you could have billions and the anxiety would still be there (e.g. “what if i lose it all?…. or something like that)
if you want the feeling of freedom, you need to choose the feeling of freedom. choose the feeling of freedom and you manifest that which reflects that feeling.
simple, eh? but no, not necessarily easy. if it was, everyone would do it.
the question is, how much do you want it? are you willing to risk a new way of being for the ultimate payoff?
happy to hear any more thoughts, that’s what i got for now…
best and thanks,
d
Thanks for your wonderful take on all this Drew!
My few thoughts:
I have nothing to lose financially and no one can take away my resourcefulness. Like the family who were vacationing in Arkansas, people always come up to the plate every where in the world.
I feel this “crises” will take us back to our true roots as humans and citizens of the world. It will teach most of us to live, think, behave in a new and beautiful way.
Yes, it is a bit scary at times. I had a few bad days… they were no fun at all, I truly felt powerless. Fear keeps us away from our power. We all need to be in a place of power in all ways to get through this period. Where ever you are, look to your family, friends and community. That is where our best resources are! Drew is right on the button about our monetary system; Monopoly anyone?
Donna
hi Donna —
I loooove Monopoly…. but be warned, I play to win
🙂
thanks,
d