Are you a Bull, a Bear or a Mermaid?

Bullish or Bearish – these terms describe the upward or downward market trends of the financial market. Simply put the “financial market” is a market in which people and entities trade financial securities, commodities and items of value and reflect “supply and demand”. I remember the years my mood-meter was governed by the Dow Jones Industrial and the Bond Market.

I would get up in the morning and the first thing I would do is take my daily temperature by turning on the financial news on CNBC. On any given day I could be cautiously optimistic, tentative, exhilarated, depressed, or down right paranoid allowing a perception of what the “economy” was doing to pull my strings of how I would feel or act that day

It was a terrible way to live and yet I know that millions of people still live this way every day. The press and politicians are hell bent on sharing their view of the world with the collective “with alarm” in order to predict chaos and instill fear in order to persuade a vote in their favor. Each side will provide economic forecasters to use their own crystal balls to divine this disastrous outcome if this or that does not happen.

The truth is that the welfare of the nation and the world is determined by the attitude of the “people”. Even the economic statistical data system has embraced this idea by a report called “Consumer Confidence Index.” Simply put it is an appraisal of the current conditions by the average citizen reflecting how they “feel” about the current economic climate. Now these are not people who are taking their temperature by turning on CNBC, but average citizens sharing their expectations of where things are going and where they feel their lives are now.

Watching this report is a much more accurate way to predict where the economy is headed. If it’s bullish, meaning people are optimistic about buying and plenty, then the economy is robust. On the other hand, if they are bearish then they will contract in their purchasing power and the economy will slow in momentum. Clearly the wild card for an economist is predicting how 300 million people will “feel” when they wake up tomorrow morning.

Here’s an idea. What if tomorrow everyone woke up and was Mermaid-ish? What if the entire country became aware that the whole economy could turn swiftly if everyone knew there was enough everywhere? I’m not talking about seeing all those material things that keep us stuck in this pattern of “lack”, but rather “feeling” from a consciousness of ever-present substance, which then becomes a magnetic force that draws things to you, but without becoming the object of your life. To embody the essence of a mermaid as unique, individual, purity, grace, magical and elusive, what else would you possibly need?

Consumer confidence would suddenly shoot through the atmosphere and fear, doubt and lack would be replaced with joy, dancing and magical thoughts Of course expecting everyone to come to this realization is probably as likely as seeing a unicorn appear in your living room today, however you can adopt this consciousness individually and see your perception of the economy, both globally and personally begin to shift. Just because it may appear everyone else does not have this mind set, does not mean you cannot.

History has shown over and over that those who “believe” in success create that success. They refuse to focus on what is not working and instead focus on what is working. Those stories abound from Tom’s Shoes, Donald Trump, Zappos, Google, Bill Gates, the insignificant man who concocted the formula for Coca-Cola to you.

True wealth comes from within and seeing a flow from a fountain that may not be apparent from your physical sight, but that is contained in your own conscious thoughts of abundance.

So the next time you turn on your television, just be aware that you are being presented with a skillfully constructed picture of a world of crime, poverty and economic rescission that you may choose to “believe” or create your own “world” of wealth and abundance.

You can choose to be a bear or a bull and follow the crowd or you can step into your uniqueness and be a mermaid. It’s up to you!

Are you the King of the Sea or the Mermaid on this story?

One rainy Sunday afternoon I found myself in charge of 70 or so school age children.  We were in a gymnasium, and I knew that if I didn’t come up with an idea before long – pure chaos would ensue.  At that very moment I remembered a game – an old roll playing game called Wizards, Giants and Goblins.  So I got my charges to calm down (no easy feat, thank you very much), and I explained the rules of the game:

      “Now,” I proclaimed, “if you wish to be a Giant, stand at the front of the room.  If you wish to be a Wizard, stand in the middle.  And those who wish to be Goblins stand toward the back.  All right,  let the play begin.”  I allowed the children several minutes to confer in huddled masses until the action resumed.

      As I was standing there I felt I tug on my coat.  When I looked down, there was a little girl with blue, questioning eyes.       

      ” ‘Scuse me.”

      “Yes, what is it?”

      “Scuse me, but where do the mermaids stand?”

     “Mermaids? Mermaids?” I sputtered.  “There are no mermaids.”

     “Oh, yes there are.  For you see, I’m a mermaid, and I wish to know where to stand.”

      Now here was a little girl who knew exactly what she was – a mermaid, pure and simple and she wanted to know where to stand.  And, she wouldn’t be satisfied standing on the sidelines watching the others play.  She had her place, and she wanted to know where to stand.

      But, where do the mermaids stand? – all those children we try to mold and form to fit into our boxes.

      Sometimes, I have moments of inspiration.  I looked down at that child, and I held her hand -“Why the mermaid shall stand next to The King of the Sea.” (Yeah, King of the Fools would be more likely.)

      So, we stood together – the mermaid and the King of the Sea – as the Wizards, Giants and Goblins roiled by in grand procession.  It isn’t true, by the way, what they say about mermaids not existing.  I know they do for I’ve held one’s hand.

“The Mermaid Story” – a story adapted from Robert Fulghum.


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