| Are we all just hallucinating? Is the recession only in our | | | | unbelievably nice. |
| minds? According to John McCain's key economic | | | | What sticks out for me in what they said was that the |
| advisor, Phil Gramm (who incidentally was one of five | | | | value of the chess board was that even though they |
| people who co-sponsored the Commodity Futures | | | | had a giant chain wrapped around their neck with a |
| Modernization Act of 2000, which is thought to be to | | | | guard holding it like as if they were dogs with machine |
| blame for allowing the Enron scandal to occur) , | | | | guns pointed at their backs, whenever they could |
| American's are "whiners". He said we're in the midst of | | | | during the day, they were able to stop and play chess |
| a "mental recession" but are not currently in an actual | | | | and in so doing, they escaped the captors mentally. |
| recession. | | | | The captors had their bodies, but they were able to |
| Apparently, it's all in our minds. We're conjuring up and | | | | escape mentally them which is similar to what Victor |
| hallucinating a recession for ourselves. | | | | Frankel said in his book Man's Search for Meaning, "If a |
| This struck me as incredibly interesting. Maybe we are | | | | prisoner felt that he could no longer endure the realities |
| a nation of whiners, but I know, for example, that I'm | | | | of camp life, he found a way out in his mental life - an |
| not imagining $4.79/gallon of gas. My students who are | | | | invaluable opportunity to dwell in the spiritual domain, |
| in real estate sales are not making up the housing and | | | | the one that the SS were unable to destroy. Spiritual |
| mortgage crisis. No one I know is inventing in increase | | | | life strengthened the prisoner, helped him adapt, and |
| in prices at the supermarket. These are all tangible, | | | | thereby improved his chances of survival." |
| verifiable situations. | | | | It dawned upon me that we can all do the same. Our |
| Someone is out of touch with reality, but I dare say it's | | | | situation (high gas prices, the mortgage crisis) is clearly |
| not We the People. | | | | not comparable in terms of the horrors of the |
| Obama responded rightly, "When it comes to the | | | | holocaust. I'm not suggesting that. But as prices are |
| economy, this economic downturn is not in your head. | | | | rising around us, opportunities can also be found. |
| When people are out there losing their homes and | | | | The key to finding these opportunities is to be grateful |
| property values are declining, that's not a figment of | | | | for everything we have today and to maximize our |
| your imagination." | | | | income potential in every way we possibly can. One |
| I found this to be a very interesting exchange and | | | | of the ways to do that, of course, is getting better at |
| something worthy of bringing to your attention | | | | persuasion so that every opportunity that comes your |
| because just recently another news event happened | | | | way, you can turn to your advantage. |
| in which a number of hostages in Columbia were | | | | If we focus on the positive and we focus on the good, |
| rescued. | | | | if we call into play our inner resources and our core |
| I saw very recently on CNN an interview with them. | | | | and fundamental strength, then we'll create more that |
| One of the guys had made a very beautiful and | | | | is positive, more that is good and we will absolutely be |
| intricately carved chess set. He made a board out of | | | | able to take control of our destinies in our lives no |
| paper covered in plastic and carved these chess | | | | matter what they may be. |
| pieces with a broken machete. They were | | | | |