Moving from Basics to More Advanced Preparations
The coming recession remains "out there." It's not here yet. So there's still time to prepare for it. We've moving from basics to more advance preparations today.
So far, we've concentrated on financial preparations. If you check our last few posts, you should see that, really, everything suggested falls within the bounds of everyday good stewardship of our material goods. Having sufficient reserves, planning for emergencies, these should already be part and parcel of your responsible financial management. If you haven't already embraced good stewardship and if you don't already have some or most of the items we've discussed in place, what are you waiting for?
And, please, if you're not sufficiently prepared don't take the easy way out. I've dealt with a number of people and families in pretty dire financial straights in my professional work. Typically, it takes dedication and a dose of creativity to get some folks back on the straight path to good stewardship.
Sometimes, as in the case with spendthrifts, it's simply because old habits die hard. While I can empathize with the struggle to break bad habits, I don't sit by and watch as people dither in their financial dysfunction. I'm forced to be blunt. If they don't change, we have to part ways.
Other times, it's simply that there's not enough income to meet even basic expenses. What to do? Well, there's always something you can do. Start small. Over time, you build momentum. There's always room to cut an expense here or there. And there's always a way to earn more money, if that's a necessary part of the solution. One way or another, you take action.
The problem with small beginnings is that you don't often see any results - at least in the beginning. That can be discouraging. But isn't that also true in our spiritual lives? We pray for something we consider important, even critical, and God doesn't seem to hear us. Or we attend to our prayer, study, spiritual reading, reception of the sacraments, day after day, only to feel nothing's changed. We're the same old same old despite all our pious practices.
You can easily slip into thinking, "Why bother? What difference will it make?".
Look, you don't always get to see results right away. (In the spiritual life, some people never get to "see" results.) But you must persist. With good intentions, diligent effort and relentless persistence, your situation will improve.
So no excuses! None of this "But what difference will it make?" stuff.
But if you've got at least some of the financial basics in place, you're ready for the advanced stuff. The first level of "advanced stuff" would be the sort of things you should have in place if you were hit by a natural disaster. You know, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, etc.
Maybe some of you have your flash lights, fresh water, freeze dried food, go-bags all lined up. Maybe not. Maybe you've started, but aren't sure if you're really prepared. Whatever your status in "advanced prep" mode, there's a good website you should visit ASAP. It was put together by -get this - the government. (Yes, they do some useful things with our money sometimes.) The Department of Homeland Security provides a site called Ready.gov. It'd be worth your while to check out. It's well-laid out and fairly comprehensive. There are other great resources out there, but this seems to be a reasonable go-to place to get a head start. It not only provides good information, but it also helps you to create a plan. And it seems to be family friendly as well.
Now, through all this, we all know that prayer, faith, our Catholic religion remain the cornerstone of our efforts, right? First of all, we shouldn't think we can cover every conceivable contingency with an iron-clad plan and that's the end of it. Reality has a way of throwing a curve at even the best-laid plans. And who best to go to but God to help us respond to whatever the world throws at us?
It's important that we put forth our best effort to prepare. But it's really important to acknowledge that, in the end, it's all in God's hands.
Now that we've pushed into the first layer of advanced planning, there's a bit more work to do. Next time we get into scenarios that many, if not most of us, may not have considered. They're the ones we not only hope don't happen, but may possibly consider a bit far-fetched. No, we're not talking about TEOTWAWKI - the end of the world as we know it. But we are going to dig in and face the possibility that the coming recession may be some degree or degrees worse than anything any of us has experienced in our life times.
Stay tuned.
So far, we've concentrated on financial preparations. If you check our last few posts, you should see that, really, everything suggested falls within the bounds of everyday good stewardship of our material goods. Having sufficient reserves, planning for emergencies, these should already be part and parcel of your responsible financial management. If you haven't already embraced good stewardship and if you don't already have some or most of the items we've discussed in place, what are you waiting for?
And, please, if you're not sufficiently prepared don't take the easy way out. I've dealt with a number of people and families in pretty dire financial straights in my professional work. Typically, it takes dedication and a dose of creativity to get some folks back on the straight path to good stewardship.
Sometimes, as in the case with spendthrifts, it's simply because old habits die hard. While I can empathize with the struggle to break bad habits, I don't sit by and watch as people dither in their financial dysfunction. I'm forced to be blunt. If they don't change, we have to part ways.
Other times, it's simply that there's not enough income to meet even basic expenses. What to do? Well, there's always something you can do. Start small. Over time, you build momentum. There's always room to cut an expense here or there. And there's always a way to earn more money, if that's a necessary part of the solution. One way or another, you take action.
The problem with small beginnings is that you don't often see any results - at least in the beginning. That can be discouraging. But isn't that also true in our spiritual lives? We pray for something we consider important, even critical, and God doesn't seem to hear us. Or we attend to our prayer, study, spiritual reading, reception of the sacraments, day after day, only to feel nothing's changed. We're the same old same old despite all our pious practices.
You can easily slip into thinking, "Why bother? What difference will it make?".
Look, you don't always get to see results right away. (In the spiritual life, some people never get to "see" results.) But you must persist. With good intentions, diligent effort and relentless persistence, your situation will improve.
So no excuses! None of this "But what difference will it make?" stuff.
But if you've got at least some of the financial basics in place, you're ready for the advanced stuff. The first level of "advanced stuff" would be the sort of things you should have in place if you were hit by a natural disaster. You know, hurricane, tornado, earthquake, etc.
Maybe some of you have your flash lights, fresh water, freeze dried food, go-bags all lined up. Maybe not. Maybe you've started, but aren't sure if you're really prepared. Whatever your status in "advanced prep" mode, there's a good website you should visit ASAP. It was put together by -get this - the government. (Yes, they do some useful things with our money sometimes.) The Department of Homeland Security provides a site called Ready.gov. It'd be worth your while to check out. It's well-laid out and fairly comprehensive. There are other great resources out there, but this seems to be a reasonable go-to place to get a head start. It not only provides good information, but it also helps you to create a plan. And it seems to be family friendly as well.
Now, through all this, we all know that prayer, faith, our Catholic religion remain the cornerstone of our efforts, right? First of all, we shouldn't think we can cover every conceivable contingency with an iron-clad plan and that's the end of it. Reality has a way of throwing a curve at even the best-laid plans. And who best to go to but God to help us respond to whatever the world throws at us?
It's important that we put forth our best effort to prepare. But it's really important to acknowledge that, in the end, it's all in God's hands.
Now that we've pushed into the first layer of advanced planning, there's a bit more work to do. Next time we get into scenarios that many, if not most of us, may not have considered. They're the ones we not only hope don't happen, but may possibly consider a bit far-fetched. No, we're not talking about TEOTWAWKI - the end of the world as we know it. But we are going to dig in and face the possibility that the coming recession may be some degree or degrees worse than anything any of us has experienced in our life times.
Stay tuned.
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