In troubled times, these are reasonable questions. It is reasonable to be searching for the answers to them. Maybe you have already experienced losses, and don’t need any convincing that things have changed. Maybe you are just feeling it is hitting too close to home, and fear what is next.

Most of us, on some level, are dealing with a feeling of unreality. Can this really be happening? When the economic collapse came, along with material loss, we have lost our innocence. This could not happen in the United States. The Great Depression had been studied, and safeguards had been put in place so that it couldn’t happen again. Prosperity would go on forever.

The economic perfect storm

But a few saw it coming. Not just because they are perennial pessimists, and doomsayers, but because they were paying attention to the signs. And they were thinking outside of the box everyone else has been in. There isn’t any one thing that caused global economic meltdown. They saw many economic factors coming together in what amounts to an economic “perfect storm.”

The Merriam Webster definition of a perfect storm is: “a critical or disastrous situation created by a powerful concurrence of factors.”

I think it was first used in weather forecasting. Maybe you have seen the movie by that name. The current economic crisis fits that description. The answers are complicated, and probably not all in yet. There is much partisan bickering over it, but we have to be able to put that aside, and just look for the truth to guide us.

I have spent a lot of time on the financial forums, and have found many diverse opinions about what has caused the economic recession. While wading through the arguments and theories, it occurred to me that there is a more important question for the average person.

The more practical and immediate question turns out to be, how do I deal with economic crisis on a personal basis?

This is not about waiting for economic stimulus hand-outs. It is about survival preparedness, possibly survival of the fittest. It sure is not about waiting for the government to save us.

As we learned with Hurricane Katrina, especially when there is a massive crisis, the government cannot gear up fast enough or on a large enough scale to catch everyone in it's safety net. Americans used to depend on their own self-sufficiency, and helping each other. It is time to go back to that value system. Assume that you need to take care of yourself and your loved ones to the greatest extent possible.

Are you still doubting that you need to personally make preparations? My reply is, why not be prepared, just in case? Why not have a contingency plan? Why not take responsibility for yourself and your family to the greatest extent you can?

Who do you listen to when the "experts" have been wrong?

How about yourself? On this journey you will feel your own sense of reality and common sense returning. When this country was young, survival preparedness was a core belief, because it was a necessity. This is true again. Accept it and let's hit the ground at a run. It may be late, but it is not too late.

There have been some voices in the darkness who have been speaking the truth when no one would listen. They saw this economic crisis coming. Those voices are still here, giving guidance. They are the ones we need to listen to now, not the ones who led us off a cliff, and now say they know what we should do.

One of the first things you must learn about taking care of yourself is that you must learn to trust yourself. You must manage your emotions. You need to avoid making panicky, reactive decisions, or becoming so fearful you curl up in a fetal position, unable to act at all.

“Get this fact into your head now that living through a survival scenario is 90 percent psychology, and 10 percent methodology and gear."

When All Hell Breaks Loose – By Cody Lundin

What do I do next?

This economic meltdown has begun to shake us to the roots. All of us have begun to experience losses, on some level: financial security, jobs, homes, and/or fear of what is to come. You need to take the time right now to understand how the grief/loss process will, or probably already is affecting you, and how to deal with it.

Why should you listen to me? I am a therapist who has been watching this situation for a while now. I have been studying survival psychology, and economic crisis. I have been making survival preparedness changes in my own life. I want to share the progress I have made. I want you to learn to be more self-sufficient and less fearful.

You need a methodical way to approach this challenge. For best results, start here, and follow the links, in the order that they are presented.

Economic Crisis and the Grief/Loss Process

"Action: nothing happens until something moves."

---Robert Ringer