Is The Sky Falling?

Is The Sky Falling?
Written 12/4/2008

The parade of companies cutting employees in our newly acknowledged state of being in a 'recession' continues. The parade of reductions will continue. Recovery & stability lies beyond anyone's horizon & it all seems unreachable. Is the sky falling? For those who are losing their jobs, their homes, & everything in between it must feel like the sky has collapsed upon them. There are parents who cannot provide for their children. Families are having to go without food because that's the only thing left they can cut back on. The sky is falling. Is it a necessary journey? I believe the answer to be yes. Just as a farm's soil must be churned & prepared for its crop so to must society go through the churning & preparation now and then. Why do I believe this is necessary? Because our nation is recovering from the addiction to debt & from living beyond our means month to month. The sky is falling because of our own irresponsibility as well as the irresponsibility of financial institutions who loosely gave credit to anyone & their fleas. If you dangle 'the carrot' of spending power in front of someone, they'll take it without a 2nd thought. And unfortunately the irresponsibility of many does affect the few who try to be responsible. Everyone needs to stop trying to blame & point fingers however. Instead we must turn our focus towards first surviving, perhaps even helping others in need, then towards rebuilding for a new future where we live more responsibly focused more on those closest to us than upon Wall Street, job titles/status, gadgets, credit scores, debt, etc. The sky may be falling but if you can breathe then you're still alive. If you're alive then you can & will survive. Remember that there are countless millions who have been living in worse poverty for years in the world than we'll ever experience here in our own country.