by Cyd Madsen

Created on: March 20, 2009   Last Updated: April 27, 2009

When a pebble falls into still waters, the ripples it creates spread ever wider, slowing in speed but traveling nonetheless and disturbing the calm long after the initial drop. As it is with the pebble, so it is with our current economic crisis. If that ripple hasn't hit you yet, it will. The ripple you ride might be less intense, but it will throw you off course, and you won't ever see it coming. In some ways, those hit first and the hardest have an advantage. They're already made peace with this global catastrophe and struggling to recover. Those on the outer rim are the ones who may need the most help, especially if they're the type prone to blame others and guard themselves against personal responsibility.

During difficult times, the shortest route to coping with discomfort is to start playing the blame game. It's an extremely short route and leads to a cliff with a treacherous drop. There is no doubt that there have been certain individuals we can point our finger at in blame, but the wise person will recognize those individuals as representative of types of individuals, then search within themselves for any hints of those traits they may harbor. You can't change until you know you need to change, and you can't fix what's broken if it's hidden behind a wall of self-defense. It's also common to confuse personal responsibility with blame. The biggest difference between the two is that blame carries with it the stigma of shame, and shame is what paralyzes people and keeps them in a perpetual state of self-defense. Nothing is accomplished with blame. Everything is possible with personal responsibility.

It's best to be responsible for your own future and fate starting right this minute by accepting that we are all, with no exceptions, responsible for the state of the economy. None of us are to blame. Even if you *know* you've done everything right, you may not have been paying attention to the signs of trouble ahead. You may not have stood up for what's right and shout out against what's wrong. We were all painfully uninformed.

As the pebbles of economic adversity continue to drop in the global pool, we have no idea of how those widening ripples will collide. Whether we've already lost it all or think we're impervious to this crisis, there are things we can do to handle adversity of any kind.

1. Strengthen Your Spirit. Spirit is the foundation under our feet when we face adversity. In whatever way you lift your spirits best-be it through your relationship with

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