A Little Perspective

As I reflect on recent occurrences in our world, I have found that some of them are rather ironic.

Many people in industrialized countries seem to be gravitating back to growing their own foods. I know that it may be partially attributed to the current financial situation, but I can't help but think that some of it is because we are trying to be more mindful about being good stewards of our earth.

The whole world used grow some of their foods before convenience and fast food came into being. Now many third world countries are aspiring to act more like industrialized countries buying these hard to afford things causing their children to starve and making the old ways of life to disappear. It's just not worth it. I don't look down my nose at someone who wears home made clothes instead of the newest designer clothes. It's natural for mothers to breastfeed their babies. Do we really need to buy formula and feed our children watered down versions because we can not afford the expensive formula? We're trying to become like them and they are trying to become like us. How ironic is that?

The current movement hearkens back to the foundation of our country. Our ancestors were prosperous because of their hard work, responsibility, and diligence, not because they took life easy and took every short cut they found. We can only become great if we work for it, opportunities don't just fall into our laps.

What would we gain if we could go back and live that way again? I don't mean I'd throw out my computer or telephone or anything, but isn't it easier to be prosperous when we don't feel entitled to everything? When we know we have to work for everything we have? No wonder the world isn't so prosperous.

We also need to quit blaming everyone else for our problems. We should reflect on what is inside us that helped us to sink to where we are now. I know that others can contribute to bad circumstances, but don't some of the decisions that we make add to our difficulties?

I have recently been dealing with some companies to try to get out of debt. Bankruptcy was out of the question because I did not want to sell my house. I couldn't do debt consolidation because the required payments would be way too expensive. My options were credit counselling or debt settlement. Credit counselling sets up and affordable repayment schedule where you repay your entire debt with lower interest rates than you're currently paying. Debt settlement cuts your bill and allows you to pay back less than you owe.

The debt settlement place tried to get me to choose them over credit counselling by blaming the credit card companies. They tried to convince me that I am entitled to pay them 60 % less than I owe because they have made lots of money from me in the past by having high interest rates. That kind of thinking really upsets me. I decided to borrow the money and I knew the terms of repayment. How should I be entitled to paying so much less? I borrowed the money and I want to pay it back, I just need an affordable way to do it. I chose credit counselling. I'm confident that it was the right decision for us.

If everyone out there tries to pay what they owe in a reasonable way and the banks learn to cooperate with their customers, I really feel that we could stem the tide of loss that has been happening lately. The banks feel entitled to making obscene amounts of money. They refuse to reason with level headed people who are perfectly willing to repay debts that they owe. Why? Because the person agreed to the set terms when they took out the credit card and they feel that they should be held to these terms. Maybe in normal times that would hold true, but would they rather face the chance of loosing a little bit of extra interest over missing out on thousands of real dollars that ended up getting written off becuase those same people were forced into bankruptcy becuase of their unwillingness to be swayed by "sob stories" and "excuses"?

There are companies out there trying to earn a settlement fee for helping you get out of debt. We need to quit spending money that we don't have, make reasonable choices, look at both sides of each situation, and make reasonable choices.

It seems that many people in our current culture have become lazy and used to easy living, causing us to "need" to make lots of money. What if we tried to break even? What if people tried to help each other out of a sense of common decency without thinking of profit margins and greed? What if we didn't have to buy everything that we consumed? What if we could live without buying expensive clothes, fertilizers, soaps, makeups, perfumes, cleaners, and so on? Would we "need" so much money? Could we find something more worthwhile to give to our families? To the world? Think about it.

Thank you for stopping by. Please leave me a message. I'd love to hear your thoughts!

Cindy