As a business owner, I, like many of you, have been worried about the economy for most of this year. The job market has gotten worse for most Americans and the economy is improving very slowly. How can we reflect on this with a bit more courage than fear? When I was in the high school, a teacher once told me that the things we consider to be stressful are nothing compared with the stress of thousands of years ago. The teacher said, “Imagine being on a farm and living in a small community of 100 or so people in the middle of Mexico, or a settlement of Native Americans outside of New York along the Hudson River.” The memory was tucked away somewhere in my head and it keeps coming back to me when I see myself overly worried. The teacher said, “When they lived in these communities a long time ago, they sowed seeds and counted on rain for the crop to grow, harvest and provide the essential food. Often, there were droughts for 2-3 years in a row, all of the farm animals died, the community was malnourished and they wondered among the few survivors who would die next.” She exclaimed, “That is stressful!”
This provides us with a perspective to allow all of us to accept everything that comes our way in life. Please don’t get me wrong, I enjoy luxuries, but when there are emotional challenges or stressful moments, I reflect on two main things… (1) That what I am facing is little compared to others and (2) That we as humans have tremendous capacity to handle stress. To conquer stress, we need to be aware of it, put it in perspective and find ways to de-stress. Doing yoga in 100 degree weather in India is of course a great way to de-stress. The other thing that gives us the ability to handle stress and challenge is a mindset to justify it as “God’s” way of sending me to the School of Emotional Growth”. We go to school and college to build intellectual growth, we go to the gym and run on the trail to get physically fit, we visit church or temple or a retreat to get religion or spiritual growth and we enjoy parties and events to build relational maturity. However, the two most important things we have with us are instincts and emotional strength. These are brought to us through generations and these are assets of much higher value then the economy. We know the economy will come back and hope it comes back soon for our community. Happy Thanksgiving and hope everyone finds lots of love peace and joy.