I know a lot of people are hurting financially right now. There seems to have been a shift where people are barely making ends meet. Times are tough. In my case, this is the first time I’ve ever experienced so many people going through a downturn. If I am being completely honest, I’ll say that even though things are concerning, I’m greatly anticipating how things will turn out in the long run.
Simply put, these are dreadful and exciting times we are living in. Lately, I’ve been thinking about a saying I once read: “A chip and a chair”. Basically, the saying means that even when you’re down to your last and things are looking dismal, there is still a chance for a comeback. In poker specifically, a chip and a chair means that as long as you have a chip left and you’re seated at the table, you can still win the game. In broader terms, as long as you have life and you’re still able to play in the game of life, you can still win at it, regardless of what you’re facing. Anyway, that’s how I like to think of it. Besides, when you really think about it, what else are we supposed to do? Give up? Admit defeat? What good would that do?
Maybe things are rough right now, but people have been known to be innovative and have adapted in the face of life events. Maybe the job market is so piss poor right now that it’s opening up ways for us, as individuals and collectively, to explore other options long forgotten about or yet to be discovered. Maybe these crazy and unprecedented times will lead to people expanding in ways one would have never thought possible. And yes, it may require getting out of our comfort zone, but just think of what may happen and what we may experience once we do. So, maybe we’re being forced to get back to the basics.
I saw a video a couple of weeks ago where the lady doing the video said that we may be going back into a situation where we have to barter with each other. It would make us have to interact with each other in order to survive. How often have you heard of the older generations talking about surviving the Great Depression and coming up in communities that looked out for each other? Maybe this is our way back to that type of life. Neighbors helping neighbors instead of ignoring each other or stealing each other’s mail. And maybe, just maybe, things will slow down so we can appreciate the things of life more instead of overlooking things because we’re always preoccupied with getting to the next step.
I don’t know how we are going to get through these current stressful times, but I know that people have overcome hardships before, and once we get past this hurdle, we’ll normalize (whatever that may look like) and move forward to the next. Just remember, as long as you have life, you have a chip and a chair.