A coaching client told me about a friend who was freaking out because, “the economy is never going to recover.” I suggested that her friend was suffering not from economic distress, but simple nearsightedness. Thinking the economy will never return would be like standing on an ocean shore watching a wave break on the beach and anxiously exclaiming, “There will never be another wave!” There is always another wave, and the tide always comes back in.
Everything in the manifest universe functions in cycles. It’s all about frequency and vibration, crests and troughs. Economics is no exception. The economy goes up and it goes down. The stock market goes up and it goes down. Real estate goes up and it goes down. To believe that when it is up it will stay up and when it is down it will stay down is quite the short view.
People who recognize the “wave nature” of life are not disturbed when things change. Smart people do not resist or complain about change; they capitalize on it. In the 1970’s during the “gas shortage,” people were selling their big gas-guzzling cars and buying little economical ones. At that time, I read a newspaper article about a fellow who was buying Cadillacs for ridiculously low prices because he expected that the time would come again when gas would be plentiful and there would be a demand for Cadillacs. Sure enough, the oil companies “found” more gas, the price of fuel plummeted, and the price of Cadillacs soared. The man was an entrepreneurial visionary.
Translated to today’s market, we might say that a visionary would recognize there are other sources of energy besides oil, and place his or her chips on the tide of commerce flowing in that direction.
One of my favorite models of vision in action is portrayed in the film, Tucker, the Man and His Dream, based on the true story of Preston Tucker. In 1947, Tucker developed an automobile many years ahead of its time, with a range of features that have since become standard equipment. Because his invention posed a threat to the auto manufacturers in power, Tucker was squashed and falsely accused of crimes. In the midst of his trial, Tucker doodled. When he was acquitted, Tucker showed his wife the sketches — schematic plans for a new kind of refrigerator with the potential to revolutionize the industry. Tucker wasted none of his precious time. Why bother with a trial when you can be creating things to change the world?
I am also inspired by creative entertainers who see beyond appearances. Mel Torme, for example, wrote The Christmas Song “Chestnuts roasting on an open fire...” in the month of June, when there was no Christmas, snow, fire, or chestnuts. Oscar Hammerstein, partner in the musical team of Rogers and Hammerstein, composed his magnum opus, The Sound of Music, while he was dying. While his body was withering, his spirit was soaring. He was not distracted by the appearance of limitation. While one tide was going out, another was coming in.
An economic downturn, or recession, is an intrinsic piece of a greater progression. Abraham-Hicks notes, “This economy is planting seeds of desire, intention, and invention that will make the economy stronger than it ever was.” Likewise, Native Americans would purposely burn down certain forests because the area needed cleansing, and the forest that grew back would be healthier. There is a wisdom in apparent destruction, which paves the way for ultimate construction. I once saw a sign posted at a road construction zone, “The inconvenience is temporary. The improvement is permanent.”
We are going through a period of temporary inconvenience. We can moan, complain, criticize, and blame, or we can take a breath and flow through it. Just keep watching the ocean, and you will find that the next wave is not far behind the last one.
ALAN COHEN, author of inspirational books, including I Had it All the Time. This January Alan inaugurates All About U, a university without walls for people without limits. For more info, or Alan’s free inspirational quotes, or his daily Wisdom for Today via email, visit www.alancohen.com info@alancohen.com 1-800-568-3079
