Financial Attitude






I wrote this crazy long post about finances and how it is important to have financial goals etc... especially during this shaky time (probably brought on by our bank failing -- largest in history -- luckily bought out by another big bank ... and today was the largest single drop in the market ever). After re-reading my lengthy post, I thought it may be a little out of place from my other posts here. You come here to see pretty.... right??

Yet, I still wanted to share this quote by Charles Swindoll that has helped me expunge some financial fears and doubts.

"The longer I live, the more I realize the impact of attitude on life. Attitude, to me, is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, than education, than money, than circumstances, than failures, than successes, than what other people think of, say or do. It is more important than appearance, giftedness or skill. It will make or break a company...a church.... a home. The remarkable thing is we have a choice every day regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude...I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so it is with you..we are in charge of our Attitudes."

What are your thoughts about what is going on??

(images from this flickr pool)

16 comments:

Amanda said...

I love that quote and I think it is so true. People get scared of something, and that vibe passes on. If we hold our heads up and march forward with the attitude that we can get thru this like everything else we have gotten thru, we will.

Being a little scared is ok, being terrified and passing that on is not. It is like that telephone game we played as kids. The message gets all messed up at the end.

alyson. said...

great post, Rachel.

one of my best friends is a financial advisor and she writes a blog called Penny Wise. check it out!

http://penny--wise.blogspot.com/

Anonymous said...

I love this piece! Attitude is so crucial to how we see life and how we handle it. I am not discouraged by current events because I know that the people in our communities are resilient, smart, and handworking. Whatever the worst may be, we will handle it!

Healthy fear and sheer terror are not synonymous. Realistically, things have to change on individual levels, not just the whole. If we insist on fiddling while Rome burns, then we get what we get.

But we are still magnificent! We can do!

Cindy said...

My head says that the quote is absolutely right, but my heart (gut) worries about things beyond my control. I wish I could change and it helps to read inspirational quotes like you've shared, so thanks. Regardless, I have faith in our country and we will persevere.

I'm kind of surprised the market reacted so violently in response to the House's rejection of the bailout plan on the first go round. Of course they will want to feel as though they've contributed to it and will request changes.

Perhaps, the traders on Wall Street should read your quote?

Cindy said...

it's important to look at today's drop in terms of percentages vs. points as the Dow has appreciated significantly over the years. there's a good chart here - http://money.cnn.com/2008/09/29/markets/markets_newyork/index.htm?cnn=yes

Anonymous said...

I think the quote is powerful and yes we do come here for pretty things and a lot more, your insight into things. this new medium we have "blogging" has proven to be a powerful place where big things can take place...it is an important time-non of us will not be affected-i would have love to read your piece rachel!

Brooke Williams said...

this is a great post, i'm glad you went ahead and posted about it. it's funny because sometimes in the blogging world it seems as if it's easy to go on "playing house" and escaping from what's going on OUT THERE. thanks for posting about this.

ps. i love the pictures. very cool.

lrbodine said...

Great quote! I need to remember that. We had some financial stuff happen to us last year that was completely out of our control and we're recovering from it (not even related to the current financial market). But it's amazing how many positive things have come out it and how many lessons I have learned as long as I remember to move forward. Otherwise I can easily get bitter because of what someone else did to us and how it'll take us years to recover from it!

Anonymous said...

Thank you so much for that quote, it has really helped me rethink something that has been troubling me. It was just what I needed.
Sarah x

Kimberly Julie said...

That quote is wonderful. So existential... I love it. Being in Georgia, I know how important attitudes are right now in the economic crisis... the only reason we are still having gas shortages is because people are panicking and topping off their tanks every time they get the chance. If people would just calm down things would be fine again. Le sigh.

Cynthia said...

Great post! I think financial health should fit in to any blog, regardless of genre. It's so important!! Why aren't they teaching finance to kindergarteners??

Anonymous said...

love your quote....it's so true...thanks for bringing this very important characteristic to the surface.

Anonymous said...

Love the photos, love the quote, love the heart in all of it. That's what matters most, to me.

SUEB0B said...

I heard someone once say that saying the Great Depression was caused by lack of capital was like saying that you had run out of dozens. Like all financial crises, these events are because of a lack of confidence. We still all need goods and services.

Design Scouting said...

i think it is a scary time, but that there is a lot of fear driving people right now, and that is almost the scariest part. Love the quote

Lenoxave said...

I'm in TOTAL agreement. This quote is SO appropos for my life right now. There are no coincidences.

Post a Comment

I really appreciate your thoughts and ideas, thanks for reading!