Have you ever wondered what exactly people are afraid of when they start worrying about the state of the economy? It seems the tighter and more afraid people get, the more they act in ways that actually make the economy worse, resulting in a self-fulfilling prophecy. It would be better to examine how likely it is that the things we are imagining will happen during an economic downturn will actually happen, and to consider what resources we have — internal and external — to deal with them. Things usually do not turn out to be as bad as we think they are going to be, and even if things get tight, there are always options for how to deal with them.

The main question to ask ourselves is, “Does my happiness depend on the state of the economy?” If we say yes, we should then ask ourselves, “What is the meaning and purpose of my life?” If we link our feeling of happiness to the state of the economy, we are putting ourselves in a situation where we have no power over our happiness since it is dependent on something external. Internal happiness should not and does not depend on the state of the economy.

We can be happier with less and have fewer problems. Having a little less, saving more things, and avoiding over-consumption are very good practices for working with the mind that says, “I want it, so let’s just go to the store and get it.” Many of us have fallen into this bad habit because credit is so available, which ends up feeding so many unrealistic expectations and so much attachment. If all those things that we wanted and got in the past were actually the cause of happiness, we would not have needed to go out and get a second, third, or fourth thing because we would have been perfectly satisfied with the first one. We have become a country of consumer addicts, which does not bring happiness inside and is not good for society.

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