Ways to handle a Money Crisis

Are you free floating in Financial Fear? We all rely on money to pay our bills, provide shelter and food, and to bring us pleasure. But with the continuing economic crunch squeezing out every dime before it has a chance to grow interest in our checking accounts, more and more of us are feeling the pinch in our bodies and minds. It comes out in worry, and stress and in feeling overwhelmed about what the future will hold or not hold. Whatever your financial situation, here are some ways to keep it all in perspective and to relieve the strain of worrying about a money crisis. Who is in control you or the money? If you are up late at night worrying about money, and you find yourself worrying so much that it becomes hard to function and think about other things, then money is in control of you when it should be the other way around. Find ways to take the control back so that you feel in charge. * Start a gratitude journal and chronicle the good things in your life. Take small steps to get your mindset back, so you feel like you are doing something. *Start small by clipping out a coupon or choosing to make dinner instead of going out for dinner. Just feeling like you are doing something, even if it is one small step, will help your peace of mind and give you back some measure of control. * Take a break from it all. Turn off the phone, don't read your mail for a day, and focus on something else to help clear your head. Make a picnic lunch and go to the park, watch your favorite comedy, dance to your favorite music, do anything non-money related for one day. It is not hiding from your problems because they will still be there, but it is giving yourself a chance to re-group and re-charge your body and mind. Decisions are easier to make and less impulsive, if you can figure out how to calm yourself down physically and spiritually. Often, if you approach things with a clearer head, you will come up with new strategies and solutions you were to spiritually empty and tired to think of before. * Ask for help! Believe me in that you are not alone in your feelings or your situation. Join a support group to relieve money stress, bring positive people in to your world to help carry you and share the burden, and ask for advice. The internet is filled with advice on frugality, recycling, stretching your budget. Look for message boards and free websites with job information or tips on career changes. * While you are seeking out help offer it as well. That old adage give and you will receive still holds true when you are broke. You may be holding the answer that will help someone else who is struggling as well. By thinking of and giving to someone in need, you free up some of that stress inside yourself. Sometimes, if you help someone else over their own road block it has a healing effect on your own. Money matters or does it? When the bill wolves are howling at the door, and you worry about how to make your financial ends meet, its hard to stay calm and remember that it really isn't the money that matters in your relationship with yourself and others. It is the being together with the ones you love that counts not the trappings and trimmings that come with living. Try to capture that together feeling again without thinking about the peripheral stuff. Remember that your worth as a person is not based on what you have now, what you might loose in the future, or what you had in the past. Money is just the covering that hides the inner shell of who we are and who we can be. It is not the essence of who we are on the inside. Although the acquisition of money is important for living in today's world, it doesn't have to rule your every thought or be the fear that lies unspoken inside you. It doesn't have to be the worm that eats at your inner peace. Take an active role in dealing with your thoughts and stress so that you can handle any money crisis in your life. Copyright © 2009 Merna Throne. All rights reserved.