Money as a survival tool Dealing with Financial Trauma Part II

By Dr. Michael Basso       reprinted

Money is a symbol for survival at many levels and how when it becomes scarce, people tend to loose their sense of control. When we loose our sense of control over stressful situations for extended periods, our stress can turn to depression. In today’s feature, we are going to briefly discuss some additional ways of dealing with financial trauma. To better understand financial trauma, it is important to first look at the situation from a broader viewpoint.

Paraphrasing Lincoln, the present is based upon the past and the future is based upon the present. This most powerful idea is reflected in human thought both consciously and unconsciously. We also tend to react to situations based upon our current level of distress.

So, if our stocks plummet right after we receive our “no thanks” letters from potential employers, it can be pretty stressful. And remember, financial losses can be linked to other losses we have experienced in the past, financial and otherwise. To make matters worse, the financial crisis is blasted all over the media 24 / 7! What are we to do! LOTS - if you want to reframe a nasty situation into a series of unique opportunities.  And how you look at matters makes all the difference in the world.

There are many who believe that moods and emotions, like physical pain, are there to help us survive. For example, there are researchers that even believe that some aspects of depression are actually ways our brains make us rest to conserve resources – a carryover from the animal kingdom.

Taking a few days to rest and rejuvenate after a series of financial losses is sometimes a good way to start. And remember that former boss who laid you off and how angry you were at them. They’re probably working gobs of overtime to make up for the job you lost! Still as angry ? This is real cool if the rest is paid by our former employers! After the rest period, then what!

You can fight the flow of circumstances and say “poor me ….”, and even let anxiety get the best of you. OR, you can use your new found time to start that new career you’ve been wanting to make happen. You might also now be able to resume schooling and take all kinds of opportunities to learn, learn and then learn more. You can leverage that new found energy to be creative, have fun and dream as big as you want. Of course, some will call you a dreamer, or that your ideas are grand… BUT, remember, this is YOUR life, you have been giving lots of NEW OPPORTUNITIES.

All of civilization is based upon dreams and dreams give us HOPE, so you can create a new destiny that YOU are in control of! Even if your big dreams don’t turn out as big as you want, you probably are having lots of FUN anyway, regardless of what others say! You can even learn from criticism!

Given the circumstances, you may even be a bit edgy and oversensitive to criticism, BUT, remember criticism can spawn new and betters ways to improve old ways of doing things and even create new and better ways altogether.

More to follow!