I find myself in a situation where nothing is going right, and becoming literally homeless is in my immediate future.

I'm not in the clearest mindset and am not able to come up with any positive solutions.

Anyone ever faced with this problem and have any personal insight they'd care to share with me?

FAITH


Keep your faith. No matter what.

Just understand that tough times dont last.

But tough people do.

And just after winter, must come spring. Everything will be ok. Understand that this wont be the last time you'll have hard times. And I bet its not the first.

Keep your faith.

And understand, although there are sometimes Limits to how much you can TAKE or recieve from the world.

There is no limits to how much you can GIVE to the world and people around you. In service.

And since the well known equasion is

"The more you give, the more you recieve."

Its very simple to turn the obstacles in your FAVOUR.

Start Giving until you drop.Forget yourself.

Forget your pain. And start focasing on how you can serve.

As you do this you'll notice you will change. And so will your circumstances.

Just KEEP YOUR FAITH.

Dear "Almost Homeless",

I'm going to add something (pasted below) to what Jason wrote regarding faith. It's a poem I wrote a long time ago when I was going through one of my darkest times.

But, also want to add that: a) A Plan, and b) Action -- are vital!!! You've gotta do something -- it takes more than FAITH!!!

First, you need to sit down right now take inventory of your knowledge, skills, experience, talents, background, etc. Make a HUGE list... of everything you've done -- especially where you've had successes.

Then, make a list of every type of organization that would find those skills valuable. Example: If you helped launch a website succesfully for a particular company in a certain industry... and the things you did to suceed were highly-valueable... I'l bet there's another company (or a bunch of them) who would be more than happy to pay you to do the same for them on contract basis.

If you previously sold more (of something) than any other sales person on your team, there's value in that. For one thing you could go get a job in sales tomorrow... doing the same or something similar... you could get ANY job it sales.

Remember, "SALES" is the only profession where you get paid exactly what you're worth!!!

You could also offer to teach other people what you did to sell so much more than everyone else. The possibilities are unlimited!

But... I know where you are. When you're down psychologically... everything seems hopeless. I read one time that, "Where there's hope in the future, there's power in the present!" I've always found that to be true.

Get yourself a copy of "Tough Times Never Last, But Tough People Do" by Robert Schuller. Powerful! Powerful! BOOK...

And, if you can get it... Peter Daniel's, "How to Survive A Major Crisis!" I've found both of these books priceless when my businesses experienced major slumps.

NOTE: I've been as low as you can go... I've been bankrupt TWICE!!! I know what it's like. It's a horrible experience. But, it can also make you a much better person -- and teach you to be resourceful.

Before I paste the poem... I want to also paste a chapter from one of my books, "The Power To Achieve." It's on PERSISTENCE.


FUNNY NOTE: The first time I shared that stuff about Abe Lincoln with my wife, she said, "Please tell me you're not planning to run for president!!!"

Now for the poem I wrote:

Also check out an article I wrote for Entrepreneurs like me: http://www.jpmaroney.com/article.htm?ArticleID=2

NOW... go back to the exercise I shared first -- do that! You can even post it here or PM it to me and I'll be happy to offer you some suggestions!!! If you're gutsy enough, though, post it here... other people on this board will be able to offer you some ideas about where to go and what to do with your talents!

It also might be a good idea to GET A JOB... temporarily to cover your base needs. When we were down, I sold ladies shoes at Foley's -- I delivered PIZZA... I cut trees with my father-in-law... I did all kinds of things. Again, you must adopt a "whatever it takes" mentality.

With faith, persistence and A LOT OF WORK... you can pull out...

Hope this helps!!!

Jason,

Forgive my cynicism, but those platitudes are spoken by someone who seems never to have felt the crunch of financial pressure.

Not just pressure- pressure so crushing that you start to hyperventilate.

Pressure so intense that your long-term, intellectual, mature way of thinking suddenly shrinks down to hours-long or at most days-long in its scope. I.e., "Where is my next meal coming from?" or "Will I still have a house next week?" or "How can I get $350 by Wednesday?"

Marketing Villain, here's my platitude (but one I think will be more useful):

"Trust in God, but keep your powder dry." It's an old military reference to the days of match- and flintlock firearms and the necessity for soldiers to keep the rain out of their gunpowder.

For you, it means to have faith, but more importantly, don't have blind faith. Have an action plan and goals set. List your skills and parlay them into job possibilities, research local hotels/motels, etc. for cheapest rates--hell, offer to write copy for them in exchange for free room & board. Call in owed favors or ask for favors from friends.

And get creative in your income possibilities. My wife and I have two small children, and day care is crazy expensive. Needing money one month, we raided our basement for all the old baby and toddler stuff we could get rid of, and we sold it to a used clothing shop for upwards of $500. And cleaned out the basement to boot. Just did the same thing a few days ago, and got $215 (we have a lot of old baby crap lying around, I guess).

But it seems to me that the biggest challenge with your predicament is the feeling of inferiority. A sense of "not being a man." Hogwash, though. We do what we can with what we're given, and it's not roses and teacups all the time. I think of the movie Genghis Blues, about the blind blues musician Paul Pena. He lived alone, DEAD broke in a tiny hole-in-the-wall, and eked out a living playing music. He even got robbed one day of his welfare check and couldn't chase the mugger because he was blind. Now here's a guy who has almost nothing, but one day he picks up a strange album of Tuvan music from Mongolia. The movie is about his travels to Tuva to compete in a Tuvan throat-singing competition and about his redemption after finding a real sense of belonging in this group of Mongolians who love him so much.

You just never know what's gonna pop up in life, but you have to "keep your powder dry." Blind faith is not enough; common sense and action keep you going and make opportunities. After all, Paul Pena GOT ON THE PLANE himself. After that, things happened.

Alex Stiner

Ah! I just noticed JP beat me to the punch by mere seconds! So sorry if my post seems a little redundant.


Also, just thought of something else...

As soon as things smooth out (and they will, so long as you follow JP's and my advice and take action)...


Start Playing Poker.

Not necessarily for money, but just learn the game and play from time to time. I'm a Texas Hold 'Em junkie and win overall, but poker has really taught me that sometimes NOTHING goes your way, even when you do everything right. But things always come back around, the odds go in your favor, and you see that IN THE LONG RUN, you're coming out way ahead. Nothing else in life has taught me that lesson as well as Texas Hold 'Em. Seriously.

Doesn't matter... he should read BOTH!!!

Only a person who's been there can say what you (and I) have said... and that's what this guy needs right now.

NOW... Marketing Villain... GET WITH IT!!! You have work to do...

Marketing Villain:

I wholeheartedly agree with JP about doing whatever it takes. I have two kids in day care, and we shell out.... $1.... $17.... $17,000 a year in day care (sorry, it hurts to get the words out). This holiday, I've picked up work at UPS during the day for a few weeks to get some extra money. I also teach at a university (which allows the flexibility to work extra during the day), grade billions of papers all the time, and just finished an ad over the weekend to keep copywriting moving along.

I think of it this way... it's an investment. I CAN NOT WAIT until the moment, probably years from now, when I am relaxing in my house, watching World Series of Poker reruns, white russian in hand, saying to myself, "Boy, this sure beats that fall and winter of '05 when..." Can't wait. And it's coming.

JP:

I can see the following State-of-the-Union address headline with you as president: "How An Entrepeneur-cum-Commander-In-Chief Can Help You EXPLODE Your Net Worth With Tax Cuts! FREE REPORT Reveals the Secrets the Democrats Don't Want You To Know!"

Alex Stiner

P.S. If you're Democrat, my bad. The Texas address leans me toward the other side :P

Alex

Good comments;

I'd just like to ammend your cynsism.

Marketing Villian the reason I replied to this post. (before the bandwagon effect!) Is because I have been this low before.

The debt, the baliffs, the suicide attempt. Luckily, I have a great family who helped me though it. I have no idea what your circumstances are like, but everyone needs a little help.

Those words and metaphors --Platitudes-- as (alex) so kindly called them, were words that really helped me through those times. That and my faith in God.

You CAN get through this;

Please keep us posted;

Jason,

Don't be offended... though Alex did come on a little strong with his first comments.

I think what he -- and I were feeling was that MV must take some IMMEDIATE action... not just faith alone.

I'm confident that's not what you meant in your post... but your post didn't give any clear and decisive action. In my opinion that's what MV needs most right now.

When the electric company comes out to cut the lights, he can't tell the service man, "But I've got faith this will all work out!" That won't keep the lights on.

Anyhow... You comments were good -- which is why I originally said, "I'm adding to..."

What was the scripture? ... "Faith without works is dead!"

Sorry couldn't help myself... my father and grandfather were preachers!

"Faith without works is dead"

Thats very true JP!

I wasn't offended, just wanted to clear that up, thats all. I really admire yours and Alex's great tenacity and resiliance. Your comments will undoubltedly be a great help to marketing villian and many others.