While stocks, investments, employment rates, and incomes plummet so too do our moods. It’s hard to go anywhere nowadays without being exposed to this other kind of “Economic Depression.” Its tell tale symptoms include chronic worry, bouts of frustration, and fits of doubt, all complicated by a constant underlying sense of stress. It’s enough to drive even the most optimistic of spirits into a tailspin of negativity.
Yet, even with the bleak state of affairs, there are still reasons to celebrate. “Celebrate” might seem like a strange word to use when people are losing their homes and their jobs, but I think it’s important for us to connect to the deeper potential beneath these trying times so we come out on the other side of this a little wiser, happier, lighter, and more connected to each other than we are now. And certainly that’s a reason to celebrate.
Here are three things you can be celebrating right now, even in the midst of this economic crisis:
1. Reconnecting to the joy of gratitude. A perfect antidote to the stress that comes with the “leaner” financial times is to commit to a daily practice of gratitude. If you can’t remember the last time you truly felt grateful for something (which can happen if you’ve been under a lot of stress), you might have to test this out for a few days before you experience the heart-opening quality of gratitude. With just a little practice though, your body and mind will soon remember the expansive joy that comes with this state of being.
The practice is simple. When you wake up in the morning, list three specific things that you are grateful for. It doesn’t matter how basic or small they may seem. The only catch is that as you state them out loud, you must consciously connect to the feeling of gratitude as you do. What do you notice shifts as you let the experience of gratitude enter the body and mind? Does your breath change? Do you feel lighter? Try this at night too. You can even silently list things throughout the day to sustain a better mood. Make an effort to be specific about what you choose. For example, use “I am grateful for my good friend Sue” versus “I am grateful for my friends and family.” There is more power in specificity, and it helps you to get very clear about just how many great things there truly are in your life, even in this economy. Try it and watch a new lightness unfold!
2. Rediscovering the richness of simplicity. Nowadays, I find myself often thinking back to a volunteer trip I helped organize in post-Katrina New Orleans. I remember standing in a woman’s trailer after she lost everything in the storm and looking at a needlepoint she had made and hung on the side of her small temporary home. She had stitched out in bold white letters the word “SIMPLIFY.” Here she had lost everything and yet by affirming her commitment to remembering what was really important to her, she reminded herself and all of us of the many riches that exist around us every day. These simple pleasures – connecting with family and loved ones; being in nature; sharing memories and laughter; loving and taking care of yourself - deeply enhance the quality of our lives and don’t cost us a dime. I didn’t get the impression that this woman was trying to delude herself or be intensely brave in front of strangers. I just think the starkness of her situation also revealed a great beauty to her. Even amidst the unbelievable challenges she faced, I didn’t sense a woman stuck in a mindset of deprivation or poverty. I saw someone who was deeply connected to the true richness in life. When times are rough like this, we all have this same opportunity available to us to connect to our deepest truth and re-prioritize. What are you going to choose to do with it? How can you more fully connect to the simple pleasures in life, even now, especially now?
3. Revitalizing your community connections. Challenging times are also great times to rekindle ties with your community or make new connections in a gesture of service and support to others. One of the most basic needs of any human being is the need to feel connected. This is especially true when things are stressful or depressing. Without connection, we can too easily feel isolated, disoriented, or lost. Gandhi once said “one of the best ways to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service to others.” When we make an effort to connect, somehow the struggles we face don’t seem quite as difficult if we know we’re in it together. We start to remember our strength comes in part from us remembering and acknowledging our greatest vulnerabilities. We can ask for help. We can reach out a hand in service to another. We can remember we are not alone. We can come up with creative solutions together that we could not imagine alone. Sometimes it takes a bit of chaos or calamity in order for us to see the greater potential that lies within our own hearts and in the hearts of our communities. Take advantage of these times as a reason for you to reach out and connect more deeply with the world around you, and you’ll find you’ll also be connecting more deeply with the world within you as well.
So, keep your chin up! A lot of good can come out of these trying times, and there’s a lot to be happy about right now too. We can use these times to realign with our values and reevaluate our lives so they better reflect who we truly are at our core. We can remember what it’s like to be happy not because of the balance in our bank account, but because of the connections we have in our communities and the gratitude we have in our hearts. We can remind ourselves that “simple” doesn’t mean basic or bland or less than, but rather leads us back to the most authentic joys we can experience as humans. These are rich times indeed. Like the lotus flower in India, great beauty can come from the murkiest, most unlikely places in the swamp. But we must first nurture the seed in order for it to grow!
In peace,
Amy Lombardo
Founder, True Nature Wellness
http://www.truenaturewellness.com/
Be Well ~ Be True ~ Be You
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