Are you fearful and uncertain in these volatile and unstable times we are all facing in the world today? With financial meltdown, corporations letting employees go, small businesses going out of business and shutting down. Family owned and operated businesses loosing everything and having to start life all over again. Non-profit organizations struggling to keep their doors open to serve others who terribly need their services during these unstable times. Families and individuals loosing their homes, belongings and facing uncertainty and fear as they wonder where they will live. As our world’s population ages the elderly and disabled services are being cut, or completely eliminated.
With the instability in today’s world I believe we have a reason to fear the uncertainty in our live’s today.
I have personally seen family members loose their jobs, their homes and belonging’s. I have seen friends and co-workers loose their jobs from the companies they unselfishly worked for loyally for years. I have seen nonprofit organizations drastically trying to find ways to stay open to help the people who need their service, even more desperately during these unstable times. Throughout these difficulties with money, housing, lack of employment, medical problems, taking care of our elderly family members or friends, all cause stress, anxiety and fear of the unknown. This tends to put extra strain on friendships between family and friends.
Having a disability can add greater complexity into some of these difficulties. I am completely blind, and even though I use assistive aids or technology, I still need help reading my postal mail, filling out paper forms or the other things a sighted person does in their daily life. During these challenging times the help I might have been able to find in the past from a sighted person might not be available due to them taking care of more time sensitive critical needs. For some blind and visually impaired people, sighted help is provided by volunteers in some areas. Volunteers are not as abundant during these challenging times, probably because they are trying to take care of their own needs. People with different types of disabilities might be facing other added challenges that compound the difficulties others are experiencing.
During my challenges I am facing I have found the following to be useful.
• Do not be afraid to ask and accept help. Asking for help does not mean you are weak. We all need help at times.
• Helping each other if you can is critical. If you have family or friends it is best to band together to solve and handle some of the immediate challenges and plan for the long term obstacles and difficulties you know are in your future.
• Some of you might have gone through difficult challenges in past. It is time to remember what you learned from going through those complicated and undesirable times and put those lessons learned into actions now.
• If you are still working, be open and flexible to the changes that will come your way.
•If you are working, or not, learn new skills that will be valuable to you and your employer to help each other through these difficult times.
• Always be reinventing yourself with current knowledge and technical skills that keep up with this ever changing world we live in.
• Think about the others in the world who never had a house to live in, do not have enough food, or shelter, are experiencing fatal or critical medical conditions and have no family or friends.
• If you have religious beliefs turn to your spiritual beliefs and/or your faith for confidence and guidance.
•Do not give up! Believe in yourself and your abilities and values; even if others tell you differently.
Do any of you have ideas to overcome our challenges we face today? How did your faith and inner strength help you through uncertainty and fears? Are any of you facing uncertainty we might be able to give virtual help with? Do any of you have other suggestions to help us? Like I talked about, wee need to band together to solve some of these complex global issues we face today.
We all look forward to hearing from you so we can stick together to help each other.
Bill Tipton
Contributing Author
Global Dialogue Center
http://www.globaldialoguecenter.com/
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