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Be All You Can Be ~ The Newsletter
RECESSION LESSON #1  A few months ago my friend Helen took her daughter to the doctor. When the office assistant swiped Helen’s insurance card, it was declined. Hmmmm … thought Helen … that has never happened. A few more swipes and the card continued to be declined. Strange … Helen finally gave up and called her husband Tom at work. He went to the H.R. Department to do a little investigating. That’s when he found out that 90% of the staff was being laid off … THAT DAY. Tom has a mortgage, two children in private school, two vehicles, and Helen is a stay-at-home mom. Fast forward a few months. I emailed Helen to ask how they were doing since the layoff. She said Tom had not been able to find work so he came up with a plan. He was returning to school to learn a trade in order to operate his own business. The family has agreed that if they have to move out of their four-level home in the hills into a one-bedroom apartment, that’s what they’ll do. Helen went on say that a few days later Tom was with his former supervisor (who also got laid off). As they parted, the man turned to Tom and said, “I’m scared.” The man went in his house and died. He had two daughters and a child on the way. Three children are now fatherless all because their father was scared. I remember being scared. Any time you have become accustomed to having a check automatically deposited in your checking account and then suddenly the money stops – that’s a scary place to be. Can I get an ‘amen’ from a scared reader out in cyberspace? But in the words of FDR, the only thing we have to fear is fear itself. The fact is that fear is not real. Fear exists only in the mind. FEAR is an acronym for False Evidence Appearing Real. That sounds so cute now. However, if someone had uttered those words to me back in 2003 when I was scared for real, they might have gotten cussed out for real. If you read your history books you will discover that our nation goes through a financial crisis about every 40 years. There was the stock market crash in the late 20’s, then there was the oil embargo in the late 60s, and now we are living through the housing market crash. Neither John McCain nor Barack Obama could have waved a magic wand to get us out of this mess. History books also show that as a nation, we always recover … but that process takes about 10 years. According to Suze Orman, we won’t be coming out of this slump until about 2015. Does six more years of recession sound scary? It shouldn’t. And it certainly has not scared Tom. He has determined that he won’t be caught like this again. He is using this down time to better himself. That’s my husband’s plan too. A few months ago his job laid off 10,000 workers IN ONE DAY! And they’ve been steadily laying off ever since. As it stands now, two offices will be merging – that means employees in one of those offices will have to be eliminated. My husband said if he gets axed, he’s going back to school to earn his Masters Degree. Somebody might be saying, “That’s easy for Frank to do because y’all live in your daddy’s house.” My point exactly. You’ve got to do what you’ve got to do to take advantage of this time. Move back home with your parents. Pile up in a one-bedroom apartment like Helen and Tom. Rent a four-bedroom home and stick a struggling family in each room like the people do in my daddy’s neighborhood. My motto for 2010 is: Pursuing Purpose: No Time To Lose. I am in the process of publishing my fifth book. Are they selling? That ain’t the issue. I’ve got them written so when I need them, I’ll have them. Lord knows Barack Obama didn’t have time to write two books when he was on the campaign trail … fortunately he had written the books during his down time. Years later he earned over $2 million in book sales. If he made that kind of money with two books, just think what I can earn with five books! Play me some shouting music!!! I’m also writing a Stage Play. As a matter of fact, two plays. And I’m writing two more books. I never knew I had so much creative ability. It was always there but by the time I got the kids up and rushed them out the house and rushed to get them to school on time and then drove through rush hour traffic to get to work on time and then rushed out of the office to pick up the kids on time and then rushed home to get homework done and rushed to have the kids bathed and in bed on time, honey child I was tired. The next day the cycle would start all over again. Weekends were no better. I was hustling Princess House crystal and rushing to fill cake orders on Saturday and in church all day Sunday. It took me walking away from Corporate America and being stuck in a place I sho’ nuff did not want to be for me to discover my hidden talents. I don't claim to know everything, but I have learned a lesson or two about the current economic season. While others are griping and complaining about the recession, I urge you to take advantage of this down time. My pastor often defines recession by its root word, recess. Remember back in school when the recess bell rang? Work ceased … for a while. Mannnn, I'd be the first one up out of that classroom and life would be wonderful until the bell rang 20 minutes later. There were, however, a few goody-two-shoes classmates who chose to study during recess. I would be shucking and jiving with my crew while Vicky Seldon and Karen Clark had their heads stuck in a book. Their diligence paid off when they graduated Valedictorian and Salutatorian, respectively. Let's take a page from Vicky and Karen's book. And Tom. And my husband Frank too. Don’t miss this opportunity to unwrap your gifts within! Our futures are full of things to do and places to go and people to see ... and there is no better time to prepare than NOW! By Yolanda Wright Bozant (310) 528-5115 Email: YolandaBozant@yahoo.com VISIT US: www.BeAllYouCanBeMag.com www.YoBoProductions.com |