Prosperity does not trickle down

Prosperity by OhSoAbNomral on Flickr

I guess the general sentiment around the country and now even the world is that we are in a financial crisis. Banks are getting bailed out, the markets are anything but normal, and politicians are on the offensive looking for solutions and who to blame. Now that we are in the tail end of the 2008 United States  Presidential Election one term has surfaced and stuck in my mind. The “trickle-down effect”. To sides argue that on one end the wealthy should be allowed to continue to prosper and that prosperity will trickle down to the middle class eventually. The other side argues that the middle class should be given some assistance by taxing the wealthy in order to spread the wealth a little.

Here is my take on the situation. I agree that the wealthy should take I little hit in order to stabilize the people who actually spend the most money in the country, the middle class, but that’s about where it ends for me. Coming out if this economy there are certain types of people who are currently positioning themselves for the future:

• Buckle-Up - Those who are afraid and are going to just sit back an hope the country fixes itself and prosperity trickles down from some action taken by leadership
• Chameleons - Those who just accept life as it comes, adapts, and blends into what ever life has brought them, good or bad. “Grin and Bare it”
• Tenacious - Those who refuse to accept life as it comes, and actively go after their dreams with action, goals, and persistent determination to wield their lives into what they desire.

I’m sure by now that you understand which group I most identify with. Yes, the economy is bad, jobs are being lost, and businesses are shutting down, but that is no reason for any of us to give up on our dreams and stop moving forward. Neither can we sit back and wait for others to prosper hoping it trickles down. We have to be Tenacious about what it is we want out of life and map out how best to get it. Talk is cheep and will get you no where, but action, persistence, and belief will guide you to your dreams. If you don’t have an idea about what you want out of life look for it. Explore things, places, and people, taking the limits off what you think is possible. What’s left constantly in your mind and thoughts are the things you want. Go after them. Never stop dreaming, and never stop acting upon those dreams.

I guess you could consider this a rant, but I’m tired of the whole “woe is me” attitudes when it comes to life in this economy. If you want prosperity in your life you have to reach up and snatch it out of the sky for yourself! Though you can always Buckle-Up, be a Chameleon and hope for the best…

“If I feel depressed I will sing. If I feel sad I will laugh. If I feel ill I will double my labor. If I feel fear I will plunge ahead. If I feel inferior I will wear new garments. If I feel uncertain I will raise my voice. If I feel poverty I will think of wealth to come. If I feel incompetent I will think of past success. If I feel insignificant I will remember my goals. Today I will be the master of my emotions.” - Og Mandino