Within minutes after the market closes at the end of each afternoon, I can expect an email from Chicken Little (otherwise known as The Washington Post) telling me how utterly terrible things are. They want to make sure I know that the sky is falling. Hey, I'm not picking on The Washington Post (I just happen to subscribe to The Washington Post for email updates, so they get the brunt of my rant today). Every form of media (liberal and conservative, print, online, television news, etc.) is out there letting us know everything sucks and we are all going to die a horrible, painful, slow death because we are going to starve or probably even have to eat our neighbors in order to stay alive.
I need to get this off of my chest (W.P., the Times, NPR, ABC, NBC, FOX, and even ESPN): If it weren't for your depressing, battered, tired, over-done links in my happy-looking email folder every day, I would be clueless and actually might even start living my life, and how terrible for a recession would that be? Why, the recession might just get so mad that he takes his ball and goes home if we start ignoring him.
If we are told every day that things are bad, we will believe and act like things are bad. I am a living example. When I see the negative headlines in my inbox, I feel a dark cloud over me and start worrying about my job, my mortgage payment, how much I spend on groceries, etc. When I see positive headlines like unemployment rates have gone down, or interest rates are going to continue to stay low, I'm automagically a happy camper for the day. Those shiny happy headlines are few and far between. Not because there aren't good things happening in the world, it's just more fun for the media to print those stories. Buzzards, vulchers.
In the past several weeks I've had more job offers and opportunities than I've had in 2 years. I've seen more jobs posted than I've seen in a while. We are less stressed with paying bills, and we aren't selling our house for peanuts just because the realtors are telling us to. I'm not selling my house at a cheap price (and neither is a woman I work with, thanks!!). If we don't sell it, we don't sell it. There are so many people who HAVE to sell, and I wish them the best of luck and if they are in that position, it's unavoidable and you have to do what you have to do. But if you have your house on the market and you don't have to sell, then don't just because your realtor is telling you to do so. You will only be adding to the problem. Ignore your realtor. Realtors work for you and you determine what you will and won't take...they only want to keep their percentages up.
I'm not an economist, a V.P. of anything, a financial guru, etc. This all comes from gut instinct and common sense.
Things might be bad now, but handing your emotional control over to the media will not solve any of our problems and will only continue making things worse. Live a little, and spend a little. We are going to spiral if we cave into this nonsense. The media stands by with bated breath, waiting for something terrible to report like salivating buzzards. Buzzards I tell you.
No Chicken Little, the sky is NOT falling, and if it's falling where you live, you might want to consider a sturdier roof.
--Fortuitous Observer
