Economy and How Everything is Changing

It’s hard to believe that another year has already gone by. Many of my clients and friends are talking about the state of the economy and how everything is changing. They are understandably frightened and uneasy. Some have lost jobs or their spouses have lost jobs; some have lost houses and at the very least, things have constricted in most of our lives. I want to share something in the back of my memory that I remember hearing from my Grandmother. I feel it is appropriate now.

I used to get earaches, terrible, terrible earaches. I would cry and cry, and Grandma would stroke my hair and shush me, trying to soothe my pain while she warmed oil to put in my aching ears. I asked her, “Why do my ears have to hurt so bad, Grandma?” Grandma replied as she hugged me tight, “God gave us pain so we could appreciate the joys of life.” Now to be honest, I was in too much pain to quite grasp the meaning at that moment. But I didn’t forget what she said, and I kept looking for ways in which it might be true. Sure enough, the next time I got the flu I really appreciated what it felt like to be healthy, to be able to climb a tree and ride my horse and run like the wind. Up until then I really took those things for granted. I couldn’t wait to get better so that I could get back to the simple things of life, running, jumping, laughing, eating, singing, all of it -- LIFE! The point my grandmother had made was that the very act of being sick had made me appreciate being well.

What was happening to me while I was well? I was taking my wellness for granted, as if I would always have my health. I forgot what it was like to be well. I forgot what a gift it was to be able to run and jump and laugh and sing. Ride my horse, climb a tree, think, play and love. The very act of getting sick humbled me, made me remember what gifts I had, all the things I had to be grateful for.

Now I realize this is a very simplistic little story but it can be stretched bigger and bigger to apply all over our lives and even all over the world. I guess I want every one to realize two things.

First: Let’s remember to be grateful for all of the blessing that we have, no matter how small. Are you alive? Count your blessings in every way, every day!

Second: Change is the only thing that remains constant. If you look back throughout history there have always been ebbs and flows, ups and downs. It is natural -- the universe has to move this way. It is impossible for it to move only in one direction. Think of the tides.

For us, the more flexible and trusting and grateful we can be, the more we will come out of this unscathed. We are all in this together so let’s help each other with a kind thought, kind word or a kind deed. With love from my heart to yours, Eve