Susan Macintosh | 30th June 2016
Hello!
The post that I was going to publish this week is lying on the floor…
Instead, I am beginning again. It feels as though, post Brexit, grief is everywhere. A lot of good people are worried. Very worried and for good reasons. This is not confined to the UK.
We are worldwide, learning to grapple with a cultural shift that is happening unexpectedly and for many, unbelievably. Yes, markets over react and then come back, somewhat. However, never fully. Trust and the stability of “foundations hard worked for” have been lost. It takes a long time and much hard work to rebuild trust… if ever. I feel that it is naive to think that this will “blow over” any time soon. Much deep hurt is happening. And for many a feeling of being shamed. Soon there will be anger. (think Elisabeth Kübler-Ross & David Kessler’s legendary Five Stages of Grief which applies just as much to the death of dreams, opportunities and identity as it does to people : Denial, Anger, Bargaining, Depression and Acceptance.)
Financial grief comes for many from the disruption in the lives that they had planned and worked for. Just gone…poof! With no way to prepare or make other plans. For those of us concerned about our business ventures and incomes that are now in distress, there is not much I can say, except that my heart goes out to you… I acknowledge your pain. Many many people have lost a lot of money, whole families (over generations) who hedged their homes against business ventures are going to lose out and it will take some time before many investors will have the have the confidence to move forward. Recession if not a Depression is looming. Friends who were looking to retire, will now continue to work if they can. Many will hope to rearrange their financial affairs and hope to make up their losses elsewhere. This is worldwide. The world feels adrift. Unstable.
For many it feels as though the foundation of “belief” and “British decency” that many have trusted when making their life and business decisions has gone. Is this perception wrong? Perhaps. Is this selfish to feel this way? Perhaps. Should we be concerned that immigration and belief systems about others has swayed logic and reason? Perhaps. There are arguments for both sides. What I do know is that “the feelings of grief”, are “the feelings of grief”.
And irrefutably, lost incomes and lost financial security are black and white. And the fallout is many shades of grey. The ramifications will be felt for a long time to come. Anxiety felt because of a lack of financial security has been on the rise over the past few years and it is set to become worse. That’s the flow on reality.
And at times like this we don’t need sympathy, we need a hug of empathy and a good financial education. We have to relearn our understanding of money and financial and personal resilience.
Let’s also rebuild our connections with others. And be open to building new business structures that will survive our very global world and give us financial stability.
We are no longer unique because we come from “elsewhere”.
Our success doesn’t come from trying to change the world, it’s about us being adaptable and being open to change.
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