Tuesday, September 14, 2010

The Economy of Hope

Yesterday I watched a series of videos on YouTube of Dave Ramsey's Town Hall for Hope.... I had never seen it before, and I'm a fan of Dave, so I took the time to watch the videos.... (It's a 90 minute video broken into nine 10-min vids on Youtube - just search "Dave Ramsey Town Hall for Hope" to watch).

I was so inspired by Dave's talk..... and I wanted to share some of that with you.

Over the last few years there has been a TON of dire talk about the state of the economy.... how BAD things are, and how we haven't seen anything this bad since the GREAT DEPRESSION. The media refers to this present downturn as the Great Recession.

The videos get a little bit technical sometimes, but the underlying message is incredibly inspiring. The media loves to paint a dire picture of the state of things, and while things really are bad out there.... there are plenty of reasons to have hope.... Below are a few details... skip ahead if you wish.

Other recessions have happened in the past 30 years, and these previous recessions were actually WORSE in many ways (i.e. Mortgage Interest rates were up around 17% during the early 80's recession! They are down near 4% now!).

60% of all the foreclosures are in 5 states, Arizona, California, Florida, Nevada, and Michigan. So if you live elsewhere, things may not be great right now, but they are probably not as bad as they SEEM if you watch CNN all day.

The media covered the stock market crash of Fall '08 in GREAT DETAIL, but the 25% rally that happened in the following 6 months was barely mentioned. A 25% rally in 6 months, and barely a peep from the media?

If we believe the dire headlines, we will begin to be taken over by a spirit of fear. This is not of God. The Bible talks about sowing your fields with hope... meaning... despite the circumstances, if you get after life with a passionate and positive outlook, God will honor that.... and incredible things will happen.

You are still in control of your own life. It is what you make it. God loves us, and wishes to prosper us, but that doesn't mean we can prosper while sitting on the couch. God comes through with opportunities. Ask him for patience, and he'll give you an opportunity to be patient. Ask for wisdom, and he'll give you an opportunity to make a wise choice. Ask for a way to provide for your family, and he will give you two hands and a strong back.

Anyways, you get the idea. I know there are a lot of people that disagree with some of Dave's financial teachings, but I've been inspired by them. They seem to me, to be the opposite of wishful thinking. The area in which these videos inspired me most is my attitude. It made me realize that there are no downsides to working hard with an infectious positivity. No good can come of endless gossip, negativity, or "loser talk" as Dave calls it.

So I am resolved to become better at what I do. I will work harder, and with a more positive point of view. I want to go to bed exhausted at the end of the night, because that is good for me. I want to be kind to those around me, and bring out the best in people. I want to be a more valuable member of my team. There are no downsides to any of these things.

Obviously this kind of thing isn't a magic bullet for success, but like Conan said, "If you work hard, and you're kind to people, amazing things will happen."

Jonathan

2 comments:

AlotlikeKARA said...

I love reading your posts :) Just as Dave inspires you, you inspire me. I love what you said about being exhausted at the end of the day, and loving people, and working hard. Something I really did need to hear. I'm gonna write down what you said this week and read it daily, it's something I strive to do and I need the encouragement. Thanks so much Jon!!!!!

-Kara J :D
(alotlikeKara)

Ida Lou said...

That was very encouraging. Thank you for that.(: