I just discovered the following article I wrote dated 22 February 2009 – a time when economic situation had gone bad.

I am not sure that the article was sent to the local newspaper (North Renfrew Times) for publication. It may have been.

The article- I find it appropriate for the present time -December 2020 – when we all are suffering from the coronavirus pandemic and economic disaster from lockdowns.

                                                                                                   22 February 2009

Wanting to ‘hide under the bed”

These days, when waking up in the morning, do you feel like wanting to “hide under the bed”.

The current news is all very frightening.  Doom and gloom seem to have dominated the news lately.  Economy is in downturn. Recession is being talked about and loss of jobs in Ontario and all over the world is becoming a reality. The terrorism continues to trumpet its ugly side and one has to watch where to go or what to do.

People are getting stressed out even when they themselves personally may not be affected. However, many of us have witnessed the erosion of our savings due to steep drop in stock market.  And there is no end in sight. 

For most of us who are retired from job market, our hard earned money saved for future dignified retirement is vanishing and giving us a nightmare. For those who are young and working hard to raise a family, the news about downturn in economy is unnerving and does not allow proper planning for future.

These days we find ourselves wanting to “hide under the bed”. This mental desire is felt not because we (ourselves) did anything wrong, shameful or stupid but the decay in external environment is real. Many of those financial wizards (including institutions) have proven to be just that –“Wizards” – a sudden disappearing of trillions of dollars. Who can we trust? The future generation is being burdened with heavy debt.

However, we need to keep our cool. “Hiding under the bed” will not work for long, as the world has to be confronted and won with all our genius, hard work, tenacity and faith in ourselves.

Our family and friends are a source of great support and provide the everlasting strength for survival in the current economic downturn.

Faith in ourselves, our family and friends needs to be coupled with faith in humanity and also in divinity. This will help us thru the difficult time.