The last few days I have been hopelessly preoccupied with financial worries. My armor of denial isn't protecting me and I'm feeling overwhelmed. I haven't felt in the right frame of mind to even make time for Just 10 and I certainly haven't felt like sharing my thoughts. So as I sat staring at the computer, I remembered the wise advise that one can set aside a limited time for worry each day. I'm going to adapt that advice to my Just 10 project and allow myself ten minutes in the morning and evening to worry. When the time is up, I move on. When worry arises during the day, I set it aside and focus on it during it's Just 10.
During my private Just 10 today I realized that out of this experience, I'm left with two strong ideas.
1.) Money and possessions will never be more important than the people I love. What I have and where I live will never be as important as they are. While the monetary sacrifices I've made over the years have been criticized by others, I have no regrets.
2.) I need to do what I can to be an advocate for the poor. Having lived for several years below the federal poverty level, I know first hand some of the problems poverty brings. While we are "rich" compared to the poverty in many third world countries, poverty in America is still a big problem. Most of America's poor isn't panhandling at on-ramps. The majority of poor are invisible. There people who had a medical crisis or lost their jobs. Poverty is a problem that has a huge cost to society. We need to accept the responsibility to be part of the solution. We need to question the values of a consumer society. We need to hold financial institutions accountable and work toward regulation of big business for the benefit of all. We need to ensure (and insure) the health and well being of every citizen.
If there is any silver lining in this dark cloud of mine, it is that I have learned how important it is to "light that one candle and not to curse the darkness."
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