Common Cents: Personal Optimist, Global Pessimist (September 30, 2009)

It's easy for me to be an optimist at the moment. I've got a good-paying job, I'm doing better than ever, and our household is recovering nicely from medical problems. I can feed my family and even get what I want instead of just what I need. And yet... to loosely paraphrase George Carlin, I still find myself a Personal Optimist, Global Pessimist.

Why? Well, I have a bad habit of occasionally watching the news. You probably do too -- and let's be honest, how many of you have actually heard good news in the past few months? If you're a Democrat, you might be exasperated by the fact that even with a 'supermajority' in Congress and a 65% approval rating by the American people, a 70% approval rating by doctors, and the direct approval of the President of the United States, somehow we still don't have a health care reform bill. If you're a Republican, you might be exasperated by the fact that people seem to want to include everything when they compile a report -- for example, including deaths by firearm and automobile accidents in our death rates. If you're a Libertarian, you might be exasperated because your social beliefs are borrowed from the Democrats, your fiscal beliefs are borrowed from the Republicans, and your other beliefs are borrowed from the Internet, thus guaranteeing an excuse to pick an argument with anyone while simultaneously making you the least popular person at the family reunion. And if you're not affiliated with any party, you might be exasperated by the fact that politicians, corporations, day traders, and Michael Moore are making their livelihood and career off of your suffering, and there's not really a lot you can do about it.

Still, are things really that bad? Are these symptoms of the nightmare of our day-to-day lives, or are things really not that bad at all without someone trying to get you worked up over it? Chances are, whoever you are, you're probably at least a little riled - towards me or towards your enemy of choice - just based on the previous paragraph. Take a deep breath, count to ten, and answer the following questions:

1) What were you worried about ten years ago?

2) What were you worried about five years ago?

3) What were you worried about three years ago?

4) What were you worried about one year ago?

5) What were you worried about one month ago?

6) What are you worried about now?

Think about your answers, now -- no quick sentences based on talking points you had to look up. Just take a deep breath, compose yourself, and review.

Ten years ago, I was worried because I was in love, and I didn't know how I was going to make things work out. I was unmarried, living in the Midwest, and the love of my life was half a country away. I hadn't even started worrying about politics or taxes. Y2K was a vague concern -- but I had more important problems to worry about. I had a goal for my life, and I was worried about how I was going to get there.

Five years ago, I was worried about my health. I had been in an auto accident, and my wife and I had both been injured. There were months of chiropractic therapy involved, and a leave of absence from work, and upon returning I was never quite the same. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to do pullups anymore, or run as fast.

Three years ago, I was worried about my job. A second car accident had effectively taken my strength and left me incapable of doing my previous job, and I was stuck as a lowly janitor with no real hope of advancement and constant threats and pressure from my managers, who had spent the past few years trying to cull employees who'd been with the company for years, especially those in poor health.

Last year, I was worried about my survival. I was staring down a prolonged unemployment; I was injured on the job and subsequently fired, and my unemployment had run out. I was selling books, taking online surveys, transcribing text, and doing everything I could in order to make enough money to buy food, and nothing was working. My unemployment had run out by then, and my application for food stamps was rejected because I didn't have an income. I was visiting food banks to feed my family, my savings were long depleted, and my rent was several months past due.

Last month, I was worried about my wife's health. Her blood pressure had gone from 'slightly high' to 'potentially lethal', and the prescription for the medicine she needed to stabilize it cost a staggering $350 to fill. I had been working from home temporarily to care for her, and I was worried that when I went back to the office, something would happen while I was out.

Now, I have a job that pays better than anything I've ever worked to date, I'm in line to receive health insurance for myself and my wife after years of having to go without it or without having the pre-existing conditions that would make me want it in the first place covered, and I can pay for rent and groceries and begin rebuilding my savings. My new job stresses me out and leaves me exhausted sometimes, but I'm not worried about it at all. I'm still below the poverty line, and I still have problems, but as long as I don't allow them to overwhelm me, I'm not worried at all. Everything I have worried about, I have survived and solved, in one form or another, and I have done it not by worrying about what might go wrong, but by working to make sure things have the best chance to do right, and by never giving up no matter how much I might be tempted to fear.

If this seems like a peculiar subject for an article on money, consider this: money is one of our major sources of stress. Practically everything we worry about can be traced back to not having enough money to solve a problem, or being worried about keeping what money we have. Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians, Independents, and those adults we don't allow to vote all worry about money and making sure they have enough to solve their problems. For those of us under the poverty line, the tension is greatest - there is so much at stake, and so much to be lost by setbacks and failures, that worry comes naturally.

I want each of you who reads this today to sit and think about what you've been worried about, and how things have turned out for you. Perhaps your worries were justified, perhaps they weren't - but if you've been worried about things you can't control, perhaps it's time to instead prepare and plan for the bad things that might happen, and seek out the good things that you hope to find. You might be a Global Pessimist, but if you really want change in your life, the best way to start is by becoming a Personal Optimist.

Austin Cushing, Money Correspondent:
Austin's column, Common Cents, published twice monthly to Gather Essentials: Money, is focused on life below the poverty line and other topics that are of importance to those living paycheck to paycheck.

Austin Cushing is an eccentric writer, consultant, programmer, poet, photographer, and Microsoft-certified database administrator, currently working as an IT consultant. He writes from personal experience and personal opinion, and enjoys finding the humor in even the darkest aspects of the world. In addition to his column, he maintains Gather groups on a diverse range of topics, from gaming to political discourse, and manages a number of popular Gather groups.

You can find all of Austin's Common Cents columns at http://commoncents.gather.com. Keep up with Austin's other postings and Gather activity by joining his Gather network -- just click here and select the orange "Connect" button on the left-hand side of the page.

Food for Thought:

Take a deep breath, count to ten, and consider these six questions.

1) What were you worried about ten years ago?

2) What were you worried about five years ago?

3) What were you worried about three years ago?

4) What were you worried about one year ago?

5) What were you worried about one month ago?

6) What are you worried about now?

Take your time when answering, and consider your responses. What can you do to prepare for what worries you?