Balancing the Books

How many people globally have been majorly freaking out every time they read a headline about the looming global economic crisis? There is so much stress, fear, anger and confusion. Why? What do we think we will lose? If we could list all those things that we think we will lose, I wonder how many would truly matter. What is our wealth outside of money and business and possessions? What is our wealth if we lose all that we own? Where is the surplus to balance this deficit? No one knows for sure or can easily explain why we are experiencing a Global Financial Crisis (now commonly known as the GFC). So perhaps to better understand it, we could examine what a GFC may mean in our own backyards.In our household, if we need money to pay expenses, we find it by cutting costs elsewhere until we have enough money to cover the costs. We look at our household budget and see where we are spending and what we are purchasing and evaluate what we can cut that doesn’t immediately benefit the household. If we don’t have it we don’t buy it. We spend only what we make. We ask these questions - Do I need to pay for gym membership when I can go for a walk for free? No – so add that cost back into the deficit. Do I need to pay for Foxtel when I can watch public TV for free? No – so add that cost back into the deficit. Do I need to buy or rent a DVD when I can borrow a DVD from the library for free? No – so add that cost back into the deficit. Do I need to pay for beauty or spa treatments when I can get as massage from my husband, walk on the beach, swim in the ocean and breathe mountain air for free? No – so add that cost back into the deficit. This list goes on and on until we cut spending and find the money we need to meet obligations. This continues until the bill is met. We evaluate, we value what we have and make changes to lifestyle accordingly. We save instead of spend. If we spend more than we make and then find ourselves in a situation where we cannot make ends meet, is the government interested in bailing us out? If I run the household budget and balance the books, do I deserve to be given a golden handshake just for doing my job? If I take the weekly grocery money to the pokies, gamble it and lose, is the government interested in bailing me out? What is the value of my household to a government? In our small business, if we need money to pay expenses, we find it by cutting costs elsewhere until we have enough money to cover the costs. We look at our business budget and see where we are spending and what we are purchasing and evaluate what we can cut that doesn’t immediately benefit the business. If we don’t have it we don’t buy it. We spend only what we make. We ask these questions - Do I need to pay for a new desk when I can make do with the one I have now? No – so add that cost back into the deficit. Do I need to pay for the latest I PHONE when I can use the one I have now? No – so add that cost back into the deficit. Do I need to pay wages for an assistant when I can manage my time (and that of my team) more effectively and add a little more onto every team members jobs so that together we all achieve what is needed? Five or Ten minutes each day lost in productivity actually costs a company thousands of dollars in a year. No – so add that cost back into the deficit. This list goes on and on until we cut spending and find the money we need to meet obligations. This continues until the bill is met. We evaluate, we value what we have and make changes to operations accordingly. We save instead of spend. If we spend more than we make and then find ourselves in a situation where we cannot make ends meet, is the government interested in bailing us out? If an employee or manager fulfils the expectations of their role –i.e. does the job they were hired to do, do they deserve to be given a raise or a golden parachute just for doing their job? If I take the annual wages budget and invest it in a new enterprise, gamble and incur losses, is the government interested in bailing me out? What is the value of my small business to a government? In our body, if we exhaust our adrenals through stress, the stomach can no longer digest food. When this occurs, the pancreas steps in and the energy is taken from another system until we have enough to cover the costs. The Liver is producing bile that is not efficient. If bile is too acidic it will not digest fat so then pancreas tries to digest. The body is trying to meet its nutritional needs by borrowing from different systems to keep alive. The body’s agenda is to live and it will cling to life as long as it possibly can so it looks at its energy budget and identifies where it is spending and cuts what isn’t immediately benefitting the body. The body values what resources it has and makes changes to its processes accordingly. We save instead of spend. If we spend more energy than we have and then find ourselves in a situation where our bodies have no fuel to survive, is the government interested in bailing us out? If I look after my health and balance all my systems – spiritual, emotional and physical, do I deserve to be given a golden handshake? If I run marathons without fuelling my body, gamble and lose all my energy, is the government interested in bailing me out? What is the value of my body to a government? The enterprise of our households, small businesses and physical bodies hold just as much value as Wall Street or governments. The currency of Infrastructure, Healthcare, Housing, Employment, Fuel, Food, and Education are evident in each enterprise structure regardless of the size with each holding a function and a value.

The simple key to balance the books in each is appreciation.

We are witnessing a global catalyst of great change in our lifetimes. This GFC is giving us the opportunity to appreciate what value we already have by identifying the surplus in our lives. In doing so we may balance whatever deficit that may loom as a result of this great change in balancing the books of the world beginning with our own backyard.