Don't Burst My Bubble!

I live in a nice little protective bubble.

I don't get the newspaper, I don't listen to the radio or watch the news on TV. The little snippets of news from the real world come to me via a few websites that I go through, to get to the word puzzles I enjoy or else retrieve my email. If the news headline isn't enough to grab my attention in those milliseconds before I head to the web page I'm after, I ignore it.

I get a little of my information about what is going on in the world around me, by the people I talk to. Sure, it's just a little embarrassing when old news is new news to me ... but I really don't care.

The doom and gloom of world events doesn't play havoc with my day to day living.

The only government policies that I concern myself with, are those in the running of my home and raising my family. I figure that if I can keep the peace within our four walls and lead by example, my children will spread 'the word' in their world. If every single person in this world lived a quiet, peaceful and serene existence within their home, doesn't it seem likely that our neighborhoods, our cities, our countries and our world would follow suit?

Depression, recession, bust and boom economies. I have lived my entire adult life managing my own personal economy. I've rallied through depressions and came out the other side. I have coasted through booming times. I spent a great part of my life being financially smart - I saved for retirement, ensured I had enough life insurance in case of my early demise, I struggled to pay as much as possible on my home to pay it off expediently so that I could start spending after the house was paid off. I was not living in the present. I was covering all of my bases, but my present day life was all about sacrificing for the future. A future we are not guaranteed.

I found out that living for today, while being mindful of the future is the way to live for me. I used my retirement savings to help fund a change of career and I shingled our house and garage. 'My future' became my present. And it was worth every penny.

I have contingency plans, I am a hard worker who will do whatever it takes to keep the bills paid and I have no debts other than my mortgage (and now a student loan). I'm not rolling in money, but we live a comfortable existence. As long as I don't worry about the state of the world economy, I am quite content to keep following the path I'm on. A path that is paved with a good work ethic and personal financial responsibility.

It seems that my personal economic state is being challenged a lot these days. I'll be confronted with a financial crisis on one hand ... then the crisis will be averted by a boon on the other hand. Small adjustments, tweaks and balances have kept my bank book in check. It has kept me mindful that nothing is a certainty these days. I keep my mind open to the possibility of needing to continue to adapt to this new world that I'm carving out for myself.

I was marvelling at my coping ability and the uncanny knowledge that no matter what happens, it is going to be okay. I was laughing in the face of challenge and feeling pretty darn good about it. I just know that if Plan A doesn't work, I still have the rest of the alphabet to keep going through. One way or another I'll make the books balance and we'll come out on the sunny side of this economy.

Last night ... I turned on the radio. I was so excited to find an Internet 'Soft Rock' selection of radio stations a few nights ago. I thoroughly enjoyed the memories that surfaced when old songs played. The first radio station that I listened to had a minimal amount of chatter. But last night I decided to try a different channel. They talked.

Little news bites and wisdom from the experts on the best strategies to handle this recession. These are all things that I have heard before. But last night, in the face of another recent bounce-back-occasion as I continue to struggle with my financial choices of late ... I felt the outside world infringing on the state of contentment within my happy little bubble.

This is the reason that I don't invite The News into my world. I am well aware of my need to be cautious and plan for the future. I have financial strategies and back up plans continually floating through my mind. I know the economic state of the world is not in the best place right now. But I am mindful of my own personal economy and I know that I have the tools that I need, to endure.

I was angry that someone burst my bubble. But, in the light of day I still feel that everything is going to work out just the way it is supposed to be. That may not be the way I'm planning ... but it will be the for the best. No matter what.

I'm patching up my little bubble with a renewed sense of needing to be mindful of what is going on in the world outside of my home. I still say everything starts from within ... and I'm going to make the best of the situation that I have at hand.