Staying Flexiable

Everyday we face challenges. Some of them we see coming and we can think them out before we deal with them. Usually though the really important issues blindside us when we least expect it and give us no time to prepare. Here lately there is a lot of blindsiding going on to everyone we know with the nation's economy going down. Just about every family I know is being hurt in some way by the job market.

Talk about being helpless, how do you respond to a dear friend or family member when you get a call that they have lost their jobs due to down sizing or companies closing. It's hard when that happens to someone, especially if they were good hard workers and supported their employers. It ranks right up there with finding out you have a serious illness as to how devastating it can be.

I don't have any answers, and lots of people who are economically smarter than me are at a loss right now how to handle it. But when you do have friends or family that have received bad news, here is something you can do.

You can reinforce the fact that your friend is a good person. Often loss of a job can make a person lose a lot of self esteem. Once the anger goes away the feelings of failure and depression set in. That's when your staying in touch and letting them know they are not failures is very important. Let them know they are precious to you and you value their friendship. Your genuine concern and caring is priceless, don't be shy about letting your friend know how important they are to you.

Love and caring are strong forces, often the best gift you can ever give or receive.

Thanks for reading.

Rambling Panda