Is your financial situation causing you to be stressed? Do you regularly worry about debt and your financial future? Are financial worries interfering with your sleep? If so, then you are in poor financial health.
As with other difficult situations in life, when faced with poor financial health we have are 4 choices:
1. We can change our situation.
2. We can change our attitude about our situation.
3. We can change both our situation and our attitude.
4. We can remain miserable.
Obviously, a thorough discussion of changing our financial situation is beyond the scope of this article, but most of us will do better if we get some professional advice. There are a number of books and web sites available. If debt is the problem, I recommend any of Dave Ramsey’s books. There are also financial counseling services available from some of our local churches. Please feel free to ask me about these.
Changing our attitude requires us to alter the way we view our situation. Rather than focusing on our financial difficulties, we can choose to focus on the blessings that remain in our life, such as family, friends, and living in a free country. This is to say, we can appreciate what we have, rather than what we don’t have. Such an “attitude of gratitude” can go a long way toward improving our daily outlook and well being. Prayer is very useful here. If you are not used to praying, just start talking to God. He loves to hear from us.
Another way to change our attitude might include looking for spiritual lessons from the adversity, such as learning to be content with less. It is common for Americans, when travelling to impoverished countries, to be surprised by how happy the people are. Cultures with less prosperity find happiness in simpler ways of living, deriving joy from spending time with family and friends, pets, playing games, and connecting with nature. Most of us would be mentally healthier if we adopted such an attitude!
The good news here is in recognizing that we are not helpless when in financial ill health. By obtaining trustworthy financial counsel, changing our situation, and changing our attitude, we can regain financial well being!