“Nothing in life is to be feared, it is only to be understood. Now is the time to understand more, so that we may fear less.”  Marie Curie

This is an appropriate quote when we are facing a recession, at war in the middle east, and the stock market is at its lowest since the great depression. So, what’s to be understood?

Life is cyclical; there are times when we experience abundance, and all that goes with it. Ooh, life is good! We invite friends over for parties, we go shopping and brag about our new purchases. We even feel slightly superior that we have so much and things are going so well. Then, the tide changes, and we aren’t so abundant anymore. Now we are like small children who’s favorite toy was just taken away from us. We don’t like it when we have to tighten our belt buckles and give up our “toys”. We are forced to ask ourselves questions like, how am I going to get out of this mess? What can I do to make ends meet? What is important in my life? These questions, albeit painful ones, will catapult us into looking within and assessing ourselves. We go through the critical overview of judging our decisions, we may be a bit harsh, but in actually this is a healthy process. We need to defend our choices and take responsibility for our actions. This is the only way to grow. And, speaking of personal growth, this is exactly what this cycle is meant to do. When the tide has changed, and we are not as abundance as we once were, it is not a sign of failure, it is a time to learn. This is the time we can expand our consciousness and look beyond the material.
How many of us really learn Life’s tough lessons when things are going well. We are too busy having fun when the money is rolling in. It is when we are in tough times that we learn the most valuable lessons. We get our priorities in order and we evaluate our self worth. Many of us get our strength through our spiritual faith, mentors, and education.
This cycle of scarcity brings to us many gifts, and we will be better off if we are wise enough to accept them.

Marla Sloane, Ph.D.

Marla Sloane, Ph.D. All Rights Reserved © 2009