Things Aren’t Changing….They’ve Changed!

Earlier this week I posted about becoming unemployment proof. Since then two more of my friends have lost their jobs. I’m not sure how to feel. I feel bad, but at the same time, these are times that call for new strategies for surviving and/or thriving. I have a hard time understanding why this doesn’t seem more obvious.  I read an article the other day through Time Business and Money that income has dropped by an average of 10% and net worth had dropped by 39% since 2007. That’s only over five years. It doesn’t even take in to account the rise of gas, food, utilities and everything else we have to purchase. Now, as of this week, all wage earners are paying almost 3% more in income taxes and I saw a sales receipt from a retailer that has added almost another 3% surcharge on to all sales to cover the cost of the new health care mandates. The fact is that things aren’t changing……They’ve changed!

 

I posted a comical little quote earlier about optimism, Pessimism and Realism. That goes:

 

The pessimist complains about the wind; the optimist expects it to change; the realist adjusts the sails. ~ William Arthur Ward

 

In viewing the state of employment, wages, taxes, costs of living, debt and everything else that has to do with our own personal economics, isn’t it time to admit that its time to adjust the sails? Of all the people I know who have lost their jobs recently, the biggest majority of them felt they were mostly secure with their good job. All that changed in a matter of minutes for them. Most have or will find something new, but so far all of them have had to settle for something that paid less, had fewer hours or both. Unemployment is a safety net, but its a poor “Plan B”.

 

I don’t know the point I’m trying to make other than “things have changed”. We can complain, it won’t do any good. We can ignore it, it won’t go away. We can adjust our lives to it, and that will work. We either adjust our lives to less of a standard of living and less of a sense of security. OR, we adjust our approach to re-position our sails our attitudes and start developing a better Plan B. Or even a better Plan A. Its about either staying on defense and getting pushed around or getting on offense and start pushing back and gaining ground!