Thinkpiece
Can Hope Survive in a Climate of Doom?
Many of my clients are distraught over the current economic crisis and fearful for their futures. Some have lost money; others need credit for their businesses, while still others are on a fixed income and are watching their investments dwindle. Some are worried about losing their jobs. Indeed, we live in perilous times. What are we to do when things seem so out of our control and even government seems to have only partial answers? Fear and anxiety abound at a time when cool and reasoned thinking might be our only allies. Fear and anxiety are not helpful.
I am reminded of a period in my past when I knew that a government-funded program that I was working on would come to an end. My anxiety was heightened by not knowing when that end would come. I seemed paralyzed with fear and unable to move at a time when I most needed to have a plan and to be able to make a move. I clung to the hope that somehow the program I was working in would not come to an end and that somehow I would be saved. I was grasping for straws because I was fearful of my ability to survive difficult times.
Finally, I consulted with someone who gave me some advice that has stayed with me through the years. He told me that it was not useful for me to cling to the hope that I would somehow be saved. He told me that sooner or later, that my job would end and that it served no purpose for me to be in denial. And then he used some powerful imagery that captured where I felt I was in my life. He suggested to me that I was in a period of going through white water rapids and that I needed the faith to believe that calmer waters lay ahead. And, of course, this is exactly what happened. The program ended, as I knew it would, and it launched me into taking seriously my desire for a private practice and to complete my graduate work.
What I now find paradoxical in all this is that once I gave up hope that I would be saved and began taking action to save myself, hope itself returned and I was able to enter a period in my life of “calmer waters”.
No one knows where the current economic crisis will take us. But many of us have had parents or grandparents go through the Great Depression and live to tell the tale. Without doubt, people suffered. Our own generation has seen the horrors of 9-11 and even though we still do not know the full dimensions of what evil was unleashed into the world, we are still here. We continue to survive because we must survive. What purpose could possibly be served by giving up, by giving in to our anxieties? If one becomes agoraphobic (afraid to enter out into the world) one’s world becomes that much smaller. What a waste that would be.
Although it is trite, it is also true to say that there are no easy answers to the social and economic crises that currently face us. It is equally true to say that no one promised us that life would be easy. How, then, do we contain our anxieties and keep hope alive? I have no simple response to that question but I do believe that some relief can be found in taking responsibility for one’s own situation in life and for developing a plan for survival. (What do I need to do to help myself and my family through these uncertain times?) Many people are encouraged by the election of Barack Obama as the new President of the United States. It has been said of that recent election that “hope” won. Perhaps he will be able to make a difference but more importantly maybe he will encourage us to think in ways that we can all make a difference. How can we better take care of ourselves, our families, our fellow human beings and the planet itself? Difficult times can inspire us to be creative in the ways we find to take care of ourselves and others.
In times like this, it is easy to give into despair. But we know that this will not help us. I do not consider myself a wise man but I do know that age and deterioration are simply a consequence of being alive. They are “collateral damage” and cannot be avoided. Would I have rather not taken this perilous journey? For me that answer is an easy one – despite the difficulties that life has imposed, I am happy to be here. What I also keep in mind is that I can never know whether or not my last moment of life will be my best. I hope that it will.
Peace.
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