If you’ve been watching the news lately it’s all fear… financial meltdown, billions of dollars of wealth evaporating overnight… panic…. fear.  Coursing through the news, conversations at work, personal conversations… every where you turn, the sky is falling and it’s the end of the world as we know it.

So, first.  Turn off the freaking TV.  Breathe deeply and relax.  These types of corrections happen every once in a while and in short order things will begin to recover.  I still remember Black Monday, October 1987, it was one of the largest percentage drops in the U.S. stock market’s history.  The interesting thing is that 1987 started with the DJIA at 1,897 and closed in December at 1,939.  That’s still a gain, it’s small but still a gain of just over 2%.  To be certain it was quite a fall from 2,722. That’s the nature of the stock market, lot’s of highs and lows but it always, over time goes up.  Investing requires patience.[1]

Here is the deal.  Your enemy is not the stock market, your enemy is not some mysterious nameless person in a far away land.  You are your own worst enemy, you can succumb to panic and fear.  Or, you can name what you are fearing and face it head on.  Some of you are afraid that you’ve just lost your entire retirement portfolio.  Others afraid that they’ll face Great Depression like conditions in the future.  And still others, just fear because everyone around them is behaving in a fearful and panicked manner.

I don’t have a magic 8 ball and I’ve heard from Dave Ramsey that those who live by the crystal ball eat glass.  I can’t tell the future.  I do know this, you can control your thoughts, you can act rationally without allowing the fear to take over your life and ruin your day.  It’s a choice.  It’s one we often forget, and when we forget it becomes easy to let fear sap the fun, the happiness and joy out of our lives.  Don’t let it.

Finally, I haven’t talked about this much on my blog up to this point.  Here’s the number one reason that helps me to maintain my inner peace and joy in the midst of fear.  My number one reason is faith in God.  For me, I believe that everything will turn out okay because there is a God who loves me and looks out for me.  I don’t for one minute believe that this means nothing bad will ever happen.  What it does mean, is that I can draw strength and courage from God during those times when everything around me is going crazy and nothing makes sense.

I don’t know where you’re at, or what you’re facing.  For many this week has been a non-event because they are either unaware of the events in the world’s financial markets, or life has dealt them something else.  There are those for whom this world has shattered their financial existence, and other for whom it has been devastating.  No matter what the situation, let me assure you that there is a God who wants to walk with you if you choose to invite Him to be a part of your life.

That’s it for me… The financial world may be in a pickle but remember that you can choose your response to the events.   Oh, and btw, the stock market did recover from the 1987 crash just under two years later.  It will recover again.

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Resources:

1. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stock_market_crash_in_1987