14 May 2009

Recession Choices

Recently there has been a commercial airing on the radio. I have heard it several times, but have not been paying attention to know who the commercial is for until the end when they say "We heard about the recession, we chose not to participate!" I love this and I still wonder which company this commercial is for, maybe some day I will be paying attention before the end of the commercial.

I love this because the so-called recession really is a matter of opinion. I have always felt this way. Life is made up of highs and lows, ups and downs, as it were. Maybe we are too poor to really feel any affects from this so-called recession, but I don't think so. I think that some people will take any excuse to complain about their money issues. What people tend to forget is that whatever their money situation, it is a direct result of their choices! Obviously, there are many others out there who agree with this theory!

Perfect example, me being fired from a couple of jobs over the last few years. No, I did not choose to be fired, but in a way, I did. I refused to put my integrity on the line for anyone and didn't like it knowing that others were very willing to throw away their own integrity in the name of better business. I hope they know that in the long run this method will not work and most definitely will not be worth it. Another choice I made (make) is to not be ashamed of being FAT! Of course, if you have read any of my posts in the last few days or if you know me at all, you already know this! I am FAT, it is a major part of who I am and, again, if I can accept it then others should, too! BUT, this is not the topic for this posting...

So, you can see that even though I did not choose to be fired and left unable to impress anyone enough to be hired again, I did choose to do things that people (following society) didn't like or agree with and rather than accepting me for who I am and learning to work together, which, I promise, would have been possible, it was easier for them to get rid of me. I have accepted this for what it is! I also think that once a few people starting making choices that leads to others making choices that resulted in someone somewhere having new negative money issues...well, it just kind of snowballed from there to this so-called recession.

As for all the "layoffs", it is my opinion (and many others) that some companies will take ANY excuse to make adjustments to the bottom line and it is much easier to cut people loose altogether than it is to make more frugal choices that can result in people keeping their jobs, but means less profit to be shared among the big shots or even hours being cut, at least on a temporary basis. Some complain about there not being any jobs, well, I'm sorry, but this is just not true. There are a lot of jobs out there, a lot of companies are hiring. The problem isn't the lack of jobs available, it is the choice people are making about just how picky they are about what they are willing to do for legitimate work. Then you have companies like Hobby Lobby that run on virtually no debt and recently gave their employees raises.

As far as our time during this so-called recession, we started it out with Steve choosing to leave a position where he was being treated worse than a 2 yr old. A month later, I was "let go" from my job. On the plus side, I was able to draw on unemployment for a short time and throughout the last 15 months, we have both learned many lessons about ourselves and each other! We made a few choices to cut expenses which taught us even more about ourselves! I am a fan of Dave Ramsey, which I will blog more about on Saturday. He is very big on the fact that just because someone chose to announce that we are in a recession does not mean the world will end. I fully agree with this same sentiment. We are not as prepared as we need to be and the process we have gone through over these last 15 months or so have brought us closer together and closer to some goals that we now share! As things go right now, I am still working towards starting a Family History business. Steve is happily working for the USPS. He is working and his hours are being cut, so, as a temporary fix, if anyone knows of little odd and end jobs, let us know. I am great in an office or better yet, when are you going to claim your free candles?! Steve is even better with a camera! Bring it on!

There are so many choices we can make and we do make, what we tend to forget is that each choice has a consequence, whether good, bad or ugly! It is my hope that we can take our own reality for what it is and not let the role of society and over dramatized media stories control our choices. It is time, now more than ever, for us to look within ourselves and be truly honest! Where do we really sit? Are things really as bad as they seemed a short time ago, when the media was really focused on dramatizing the end of the world as we know it! Personally, I think not!

2 comments:

Hema and Becky said...

Interesting perspective. Since we are looking at changes or losses of all 3 of the 3 jobs in this household, I am a bit stressed out about the economy. But I do tend to be a bit of a financial freak! I must say that I am still spending money and investing in the stock market (I am crossing my fingers that we gain some money back there)!!

watsit2u said...

hmmm, good thing you are going to Dave Ramsey tomorrow, eh?! (I think I remember you saying you were going) Did you watch the Town Hall for Hope? I have it on my DVR and will probably be blogging all about Dave and THfH tomorrow.