Monday, October 13, 2008

It is time to be POSITIVE about the future

So much has been written and spoken in the press, radio and TV about the current situation with the banks and stock markets. Even the talk in the offices I visit is all about this gloomy subject. I for one am sick and tired of hearing about what is happening to our world and our lives.

Of course all these things do impinge on on us, and no doubt we will be feeling that backlash for weeks, months and years to come. It does seem that the talk just makes the situation worse. It appears that the more the crisis is discussed the more gloom there is … all just making the situation even worse.

Now some of us will predict that this is just a blip and all will be well again soon – after all this sort of thing has happened before (hasn’t it?) and some of us will believe that the situation will get just worse and worse and the world will come tumbling down around our ears, never to be the same again!

The fact is that we can do very little about the situation. It is here, it is happening and it is mostly out of our control. Yes, some people will be poorer for what has happened, some will find that their pensions are dramatically reduced, other that their homes have dropped in value, many are likely to loose their jobs … all these things are unfortunate … but they are beyond our control.

The truth is that the outcome is not really known. Yes, governments have taken action, but is it the right action? We, in our own way have stopped buying shares and property, we have put off getting that new car, we are thinking twice about how much to spend on our next holiday. All this has an ongoing affect on most of us who work in these or similar industries. Sadly thousands of small businesses around the world will disappear as a result.

Perhaps what we need to do is get on with our lives. Have confidence that by doing so, the markets will recover, recession will be pushed back and that we, each and every one of us, can get on with our new lives. There are many lessons to be learned from the events of the past month – let them be learnt but in the meanwhile let us all be positive and upbeat and make the very best of all that we are fortunate to have.