When you watch the news these days, there really isn’t much to get excited about. The markets are down, our deficit is going up, and the spending seems to be out of control. There’s enough bad news for everyone to get upset and worried 24 hours a day if they want to.
I have a friend who constantly watches the 24 hour news channels, listening to news of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, mortgage bailouts and bailouts of just about every other big struggling company you could think of. This person watches these “news” shows, gets frustrated with where we’re headed, and then just gets worried about what can be done to turn things around for our economy. It really ruins this person’s mood a good deal of the time.
credit: spaceodissey
The problem is that as an ordinary citizen there really isn’t much we that we can do to fix the economy. Sure, we can contact our representatives in congress, vote for people who have beliefs aligned with our own, and even get involved in local politics. When it really comes down to it, we really don’t have much control over what happens. But we still worry.
Dave Ramsey on his radio show was talking about this very subject, talking about how we are constantly worrying. Of the things we worry about only 20% or so ever actually happen, and of those a good deal of them we have no control over. So what’s the point in worrying about them?
Instead of worrying about things you can’t control, most of which will never happen, try taking control of the things you can affect. For example, instead of worrying about the economy as a whole, worry about your own personal economy. Do things to get your personal financial situation under control.
- Start a budget.
- Save up an emergency fund.
- Reduce your risk by paying off debt using the debt snowball.
- Make some extra income.
- Start saving for retirement.
- Pay extra on your house.
These are all practical things you can do to improve your own personal economy, and remove some of the worry from your life.
The economy? Well, we don’t have much control over that – so why bother worrying about it! Start working on your own situation, and you’ll be just fine.
Dave Ramsey Talks About Worry
Here’s some audio from the Dave Ramsey radio show this week talking about why we should stop worrying about things we can’t control.
Don’t Worry About Things You Can’t Control
Stop worrying, and start working on your personal economy!
Do you ever find yourself worrying about things you can’t affect? Are you allowing those worries get in the way of positively affecting things you CAN affect? Tell us your thoughts in the comments.
God Grant Me the Serenity
to accept the things
I cannot change,
Courage to change the things
I can, and the wisdom
to know the difference.
Living one day at a time,
enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardship as the
pathway to peace.
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things
right if I surrender to His will;
That I may be reasonably happy
in this life,
And supremely happy with Him
forever in the next.
~Reinhold Niebuhr
1892-1971
Pete – great post! Obviously, this is the greatest problem in our economy right now, but with all the socialist policies coming out of DC right now, who can blame the American people. As Christians, we need to be determined to rise above what our liberal politicians are pushing through during this “crisis” and live by Faith.
Larry Joness last blog post..48 Reasons I’m still Rich in 2009
Could not agree more! I am so tired of hearing about our dying economy and what we can do to fix it. Personally, I am only one man and I know that I cannot do anything about America’s troubles. I do know that I can take care of myself and my family. God willing, we will come out better people from these times. However, we are also not going to listen to the hype on TV and continue to worry about things we cannot control.
The distractions coming out of the media seem to be designed to move your focus from what you can do for yourself and onto what the government can do for you. Personally, I liked it a lot better when the government delivered the mail and protected the borders.
If each citizen of the United States, decided to no longer wait for the government to fix the problem and instead took an active roll in fixing their own problems, I think the nation as a whole would once again feel good about the core and character of the country.
Hi Pete, I totally dug the Dave Ramsey quote. My sister is a Dave guru but I am just beginning to learn about him. I tweeted the clip. Thank you for the Bible quotes about money. I recently discovered the Bible mentions money 800 times!
Thanks for your blog.
tammys last blog post..The Frugal Musician patches things up…
I’m as guilty as anyone of worrying about all of this stuff. As a financial advisor, I feel like my days are full of hearing people worry about what is happening to their nest egg (with some good reason). The thing I’ve been convicted of lately is that not only are we to not worry about what’s going to happen, but we are to consider it “pure joy” when things like this happen. I wish I could say I totally understood that James guy…
Charless last blog post..SJ Weekly Devotion – Goal Setting
I think worrying a lot about the world’s problems is a great way to ignore your own issues.
I used to do it for years.
Now, I only focus on the things I can control.
TStrumps last blog post..Jargon and Platitudes