We have all been shaken by the turmoil rocking the financial world.  It is scary.  We simply don't  know what will happen next.  The future is uncertain.  But I submit to you that there are some very important life lessons to be gained from this catastrophe that can be used in all areas of our lives.

First off, let's address worrying about the future or the real issue of the unknown. The stock market has always been a perfect example about attempting to predict the future.  What we have on Wall Street is a bunch of guys attempting to make money based upon what they think will happen in the future. A better word for predict might be guess, although I would grant them the term, educated guess.  There is no way to predict the future...not an hour from now let alone next month or next year. It is not so much the future that worries us but rather the unknown. We live with the unknown everyday.  It is a  condition of life. We can only know the present moment.  Therefore, worrying or being frightened of the future makes little sense since we have no idea, nor any control over what might occur.  What if everything turns out just fine?  Now it becomes a matter of perspective: how we choose to look at life.  Are we looking for everything that might go wrong or everything that might go right?

Second lesson: take responsibility. The blame game is being played full out right now.  Blaming someone else for how we feel or what has happened makes us powerless as we are transferring our personal responsibility for our lives to the person or institution we blame.  Blaming someone else means we cannot make changes or improve the situation.  Look back and claim responsibility. For example, I invested in the market knowing full well that it was a risk and that there was rampant greed on the Street.  I could have  assessed the risks in a more productive fashion. I could have taken the time to track the stocks myself instead of leaving it to my broker.  I could have see the writing on the wall. Now is the time to ensure that we do not repeat these mistakes, that we will learn the lessons and take full responsibility for our lives.

How about understanding the basic nature of life and that is: s--t happens.  To have an expectation that everything will go according to your plan is close to insane.  The universe does not work that way.  Expectations that things will go our way are premeditated dissapomintments and resentments.  That's life and we need to accept that fact.

Clean up you mess. The government needs to clean up their mess, Wall Street need to do the same and so do we.  That done, we all need to ensure that we make conscious choices about how we want to invest our money in the future. 

How about the issue of control?  Exactly where do we have control and where do we not?  We cannot control the outer world. We cannot control what others choose to do.  Learning the difference between where we have control and where we don't will lead to a much more centered and content existence.  Trying to control life is like swimming against the current...you get nowhere except highly frustrated, tired, angry and resentful.  We can only control ourselves and how we choose to handle what life throws out way.

There are undoubtedly many more lessons to be gleaned from the crisis on Wall Street and I challenge you to find them so that you not onnly don't repeat them but so that you evolve into a wiser human being.