PRICE STICKER SHOCK & OTHER LIFESTYLE QUAKES

Janet Chester Bly 

Copyright©2008,2010

A friend faced a great blow this afternoon. Her husband’s prescription he’d taken for many years had raised in price from $40 to $375. In distress, she checked another pharmacy. Their price: $350.

Then, she bought groceries. Her bill had almost doubled from the previous month.

“How can this be? We’re on a fixed income,” she said. “We can’t do this. What’s going to happen to ordinary folks like us?”

Another acquaintance told us in recent weeks: “A series of medical bills caused us to miss a house payment. Our mortgage company threatened to foreclose. If it wasn’t for family members lending us the money, we’d be out in the streets.”

The awful scare. The cold despair. The shock that hits that you might lose your home. Or your job. Even getting docked in pay. Or becoming the victim of identity theft. There’s so much uncertainty now, when a few years ago most folks felt sure of the basics. They expected to maintain a certain lifestyle. To keep a tiled roof over their heads. To retain a respected title. To count on their worth.

We know of a gal who has a good job. But not good enough to pay her rent that has been raised three times since she moved in. Now she’s living in her car.

Tough Times Are Nothing New  

For those who study history, they recognize an ebb and flow in good times, bad times. And traumas can produce lifelong effects. Many  living today who faced deprivations in the past, such as the Great Depression era and the world wars, suffer residual fears even when they’re in a safe and secure place now.

After WWII, the Allied armies corralled hungry, homeless children into large camps to care for them. But they didn’t sleep well.

A psychologist suggested, “Let the kids hold a slice of bread every night, so they know they’ll eat in the morning.”

The bread provided security, an adequate resource for peaceful rest.

6 Ways To Stand Fast When The Gravy Train Slows

 
1) Don’t panic: Prepare.

2) Don’t despair: Get creative.

3) Adjust to your new reality.

4) Ask God to reveal what He wants you to learn, what He advises you to do.

5) Find something to hold onto. . .your hand-held slice of bread.

6) Seek out others who have faced the same circumstance. How did they cope?

#########

Download the full article, "31 Ways To Win The Fight For Personal Peace" at our website: http://BlyBooks.com/articles.htm