So many people are feeling oppressed in the times I am living in. This is the great 21st Century where we are supposed to have solved the issue of humanity and its issues. The picture reads very differently. Unemployment, poverty, homelessness and abandonment, apposing this is abundance and high living coupled with greed and loose living.
As I see it, largely humanity appears blind to what this may mean in a true sense. For me as I understand this, it means naught has changed for at least the last few thousand years where slavery is still rife in what ever form it presents itself. Humanity have always been slaves to the powerful and there has always been masters for the slaves albeit in many forms ie Kings, Popes, Lords, and Chieftains. Humans have been bought and sold as a commodity for as long as life has been or since Adam was a boy some would say.
In ancient Rome if a General was found guilty of a crime he was put to death, as were his 400 odd slaves (also put to death). Companies rise and fall today and with that go the hopes and dreams of ordinary people when their vehicle to get to where they want to go no longer exists with job loss and poverty.
How can anyone be happy in such a situation? Well that is just the point of this blog. Its not about the situation that makes you happy or sad. Happiness is a state of mind and therefore one can choose to be happy in any circumstance within reason. Loss of loved ones excepted.
When faced with the challenges of life it is good to try to be content with this understanding and go with the flow so to speak. Act like a river. Have you ever tried to stop or dam a raging river, good luck with that. This is what is meant by just go with it and look for ways to overcome every challenge as you go down the river of life. Take notice of the times that you find yourself saying things are bad and that you will be happy when you get whatever, a new car, new house, new job, new life. Stop! This is comparing oneself to those gluttonous absurdly rich overlords and corporate high rollers who are in fact spiritually devoid and whose hearts are usually black or non existent, those who are only happy when spending money.
So, how can you do this. It is a simple choice. Choose to be happy, choose to be resourceful. Choose to use the rebelliousness nature borne inside of us and use this to succeed where the odds look stacked. Choose to think carefully where the budget is concerned and learn to stop coveting items on the shelves in the stores. This last one is a biggie. Of course we all need to visit the shops and purchase goods. It requires discipline because its all the other brightly coloured items out there that makes shopping a sobering challenge. Make a list and stick to that list and do not take yourself site seeing looking at things that are basically not affordable on a mad strict budget.
There are plenty of second hand shops that sell bargain priced items with furniture and large goods and there are other ways around obtaining those things with NILS Loans if a larger sum is required. As I have mentioned previously it calls for being disciplined in all areas where the finances are concerned. The amount of money is decidedly limited if we are talking about the limited income of a Pension or benefit.
There is the absolute benefit of using the'CentrePay' system and everyone should avail themselves to this service to make sure the tiny bit they do get goes where it should go when it should go. If you pay a couple of dollars more to each utility via this Centrepay method, eventually this will put you into credit and that is a feeling of freedom that you just bought all by yourself by being disciplined and paying the extra along the way.
There is this thing with some folk where they think if they don't pay the rent this week they will catch up next week. Can you catch up on living next week? No! and neither is catching up on late rent ever going to make life easy or manageable. Never omit to pay your rent or mortgage payments no matter what. Nothing is as important as your home base and your shelter. You can go without food easier if you are warm and housed. Always cover your own security with being vigilant on this point and make no reason a reason as there is no reason.
Shopping and budgeting is a necessary aspect as we all have to eat. Buying two of a product when the prices are down quite a few dollars from the normal price (and not over using the product because you have two) will start to put you in a position to look out for the cheaper prices instead of being governed by urgency which costs money. Lets face it .. to buy coffee for me -- I look for the coffee on special when it is $6.00 off the regular price and then I buy three. By the time those three are used there is usually another special rolling around so when I am getting to the last tin I keep an eye out for the special again. You would be amazed how much this actually saves and allows you to feel more in control.
There are plenty of Food banks these days but beware as they carry packaged out of date food items and so the quality is compromised with any processed item with a shelf life. However these places give away bread and fruit and veges and so don't overlook them as it will certainly aid with the grocery burden.
Meal planning and making do with less... Its probably not everyones idea of fun. With obesity being the big thing with the health of everyone, children included, you can use your intake of food to be rebellious and just have smaller meals. If you are not out digging ditches for 8 hours a day you do NOT need all the calories of a ditch digger and so don't eat them if you aren't digging ditches - simple. Eat when hungry instead of by the clock. If you don't feel like lunch then don't have it. Slowly you get used to it and its not so bad and in fact its probably better for you in so many ways. Especially if you only have processed foods. The less of that the better.
Which leads me to another area of self help. Grow things, Grow things you use a lot if you can or grow simple things. Grow strawberries, grow parsley, Thyme onions etc so that you never have to buy these things. Look for other things you might use like potatoes as all of the above are easy to grow in containers if a garden is out of the question. Don't buy the soil for the containers - be resourceful and make a mix, buy one bag and mix that with cow poo you collected and garden soil and compost from your left overs and grow great things to eat. In times gone past it was necessary for each house to have a kitchen garden. It should not have been seen as a fashion as its necessary now more than ever. Our children would be healthier if it still went on.
To finish, I would encourage any reader to avail themselves to the enlightened understanding of the great Manly Palmer Hall.
Most persons fear the unknown, and we might say that an expert in any field of thinking is one phase of the unknown. The average person is afraid of experts, of people who know more than he does. Our natural tendency in making decisions is to consult people on our own level. In other words, we gain our advice and assistance over a back fence, from some notice on television, some popular handbook, or the general gossip of the neighborhood. I have noticed also that people of varied races or nationalities will nearly always seek advice from members of their own ethnic group.
As a result of this tendency, we are nearly always poorly advised. Thousands of persons every day go for help to individuals they trust, but often they are consulting friends or even famous persons who are not authorities in the area at all. They may go to some college professor to find out something about religion, which he knows no more about than they do. Age, venerable appearance, distinguished career, high social standing - these do not make the person capable of helping others to decide specific problems. Actually, nature wants us to solve our own problems. Nature does not want us to lean upon other people.
Always try to solve as much of a problem yourself as is possible. Do not develop the leaning habit. The more we develop the habit of leaning, the weaker we become. We must realize that as a nation or a community develops leaner's it becomes weaker as a whole. Where the person tries to evade the need for personal decision, solution, and responsibility, the result is always weakness.- Manly P Hall - Five Mistakes That Can Lead to Tragedy - Lecture Note 082
Images @ Eminpee Fotography
