Working with What’s Available

It’s very easy to bemoan all the things we don’t have right now, but how many of us are able to creatively use everything that is right around us, and to do it with good humor?

It’s a real skill to be able to recognize all the good fortune and opportunities right before our eyes, and then to be able to do something with it. It takes presence, which is to say it’s a skill that is enhanced by not being constantly distracted. Since so many of us are constantly moving(where I am not so sure), it’s become a huge challenge to even be still enough to see and really appreciate what we have now, let alone to maximize those opportunities.

But I guarantee each of you that if you can slow down long enough to really, really see what is right in front of you, the key to your own financial riches and freedom is right here, right now. After you have slowed down, you might want to take a few steps back to observe what’s there.

For example, if you are witnessing the decline of the stock market right in front of your eyes, and if you have traditionally been a stock investor, take a break from insisting that your financial future is inextricably linked to continuing the same pattern. Stop for a few minutes, think and open your mind: You may sense a volatile situation, and you may sense that change is in the wind. Good, you are getting close to seeing what is right before your eyes. Now take a small leap and look around at the economy in which you are living, and try and appreciate the world economy as well. Contrary to some of the messages you are being barraged with by the media, our economy is not tanking, it is not sinking. Is it changing? Absolutely.

Don’t forget the following fun fact, which I think is unassailably true. Wherever living people exist in large numbers(such as the United States), they will have not just basic needs to be met (like food, shelter, work, medical care), but they will also have many other opportunities to spend money for discretionary items. What I am trying to point out to you is that in every environment, and with every change, there are always opportunities to make money right now.

Back to our stock market example: if you are dissatisfied with the way things are going, explore your options: It doesn’t take a genius to realize that energy is a big issue now and for some years to come. It should also be obvious that many people are slow to change their habits (in other words, addictions of all kinds die hard and slow). Use that knowledge right now to counter the beating you are taking in stocks-invest in something that everyone still needs (I hope you know what I mean).

Don’t like the low value of the dollar when it’s drummed into your head on the nightly news? Try and benefit by getting involved in an export based industry; if you are in a slowing real estate region, try and appeal to foreigners who now view the US as a bargain basement.

So I guess what I am saying is: wherever you are, whatever you do, no matter what they tell you on the evening news, there are always opportunities. Observe carefully what’s around, make your move, and enjoy the results fully.