Thanksgiving Provides Antidote to Anxiety Caused by Economic Crisis

Thanksgiving is supposed to be a holiday when we celebrate our great abundance and prosperity. However, for many people, the current economic crisis may cause them to feel as if they have little to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. In fact, they may be experiencing so much lack in their lives that they can’t muster up even one serving of gratitude.

I know how they feel. So far, 2008 has been a tough year for my family. My husband lost his job last year just before Thanksgiving and didn’t find full-time employment until April. He was hired to help ready a company for sale, an event that was supposed to happen a year and a half or two later. The current economic crisis, however, has caused the investors to speed up that timeline, and the company will be sold by the end of the year, leaving my husband jobless again by the start of 2009.

Additionally, we have been carrying a large credit card debt for the first time in the 20 years of our marriage. On top of that, my son’s two hospital stays this summer left us with additional debt.

Besides all that, I’m a freelance writer and book editor/coach/consultant. While magazines are still paying for articles, would-be-authors have backed off on hiring editors or looking at self-publishing their books, because they, too, are feeling the financial crunch. The pre-holiday period tends to be slow in general as well. Thus, my workload had decreased to nothing, leaving my family without the additional income it needs to make ends meet.

The last two times I’ve paid bills, I’ve spent more time trying to figure out which bills not to pay rather than actually paying bills. And I’m sure I’m not alone in this endeavor.

As Thanksgiving approaches I know, though, that I’m being given a huge opportunity to change my negativity and worry into positive feelings that can help me change my situation. I’ve been a firm believer in the power of positive thinking and faith for a long time. I know that it can be hard to find faith and belief that good times will roll around again in the not-too-distant future and that we can weather the current economic storm when we are stuck in our negative feelings. Positive feelings, on the other hand, allow us to open back up to our faith and belief.

In my experience, you can always find something for which to be grateful, and during times of financial difficulty it’s all the more important to look for something about which to feel thankful. Faced with an economic crisis, like the one we find our selves in now, people tend to fall into a state of depression and worry. This doesn’t help them look for ways to change their current situation. It only perpetuates their state of lack.

The reason for this is simple: Depression and anxiety tend to make people lethargic and apathetic. Therefore, they don’t try to do things differently. They don’t try to make a change. They just remain stuck and feeling like victims of their circumstances. For me, that may manifest as sitting in front of my computer looking like I’m working but not really turning out any query letters to magazines or doing anything to drum up more editing clients. Or I may simply throw up my hands and say, “There’s nothing I can do about this,” rather than looking at how I can save $30 at the pharmacy on my prescriptions every month and remembering to change my Netflix account to a cheaper one so I save another $10 a month. Every little bit counts.

And then I can be grateful for my little bit of savings. After all, that’s what Thanksgiving is all about – Thanksgiving, which is why I, personally, love this holiday. This year, more than most, I think Thanksgiving actually offers us the antidote to the anxiety and depression caused by personal fallout from the current economic crisis. Simply being grateful and offering thanks for what we each do have, even if it is only a little, changes our whole attitude, and that can lead to other changes.  

What has been called “an attitude of gratitude” won’t suddenly cause a pot of money to manifest on my stove, but it opens me up to the possibilities of creating more abundance and prosperity. When I look around and see the positive things in my life, like my loving husband, or my wonderful children, or the fact that I have $10 in my wallet, am expecting a paycheck this Friday, am healthy, live in a beautiful environment, or have friends who love and support me, I feel better. Everyone can find something, no matter how small, for which to be thankful.

And when I feel better and more positive in general, I am able to find the energy to look for new opportunities to create sources of income. For my husband, this might mean starting his new job hunt, or trying to refinance our house or finding a creative way to pay down our debt. For me it might mean going to a networking meeting or offering a writing class or teleseminar while I’m waiting for a new editing client to give me a call.

Speaking for myself, I know I’ll be more open to finding solutions if I feel good. And I’ll be more likely to take action, because feeling good gives me energy. Feeling depressed and anxious takes my energy away.

Additionally, I’m going to try and giving a little this Thanksgiving. Even if I don’t feel I have enough for myself and my family, I can give a little money, time, energy, used items, or attention to someone who has less than I do. I can offer my professional expertise for free simply as an act of giving. I can invite someone to eat Thanksgiving dinner with me who is feeling the financial crunch more than I am. This gives me, first, the chance to once again feel gratitude. I can be thankful that I have the ability to give and to share. Second, giving opens me to receiving. In the process of giving, not only do I feel good but I allow in good things. Third, when I give I allow myself to get closer to God. God is the ultimate Giver, and by giving, I become a little bit like God. In this process, if I can feel a connection to God even for a moment here and there, I truly have something for which to be thankful. And that connection to the Great Giver will help sustain me during this time of financial crisis and strengthen my faith that not only will my own financial situation improve but so will the global situation as well.