A Good Thing Said Too Late

BLOG IDEAS (Photo credit: owenwbrown)

Why wait until a loved-one dies before saying nice things about them? Why not say them while they are still able to hear the good in life?

I have had enough of the dark and shadowed prompts and decided this day that I will not follow them daily any longer. I will still answer a prompt when it sounds like something I can do honestly. I am seriously on the edge of not posting to blogs at all. (You can un-follow if you like, I would not be offended.) It seems to me that people prefer to read about the dark side of living over upbeat, happy-moment posts. I am naturally cynical, but not naturally negative. I do not come to write or read blogs for controversy or to convince or be convinced to stand on the side of adversity for the sake of being considered a hero for being different.

I am a bit testing this day, but for a reason that was long time coming. It’s rough for people starting out in life and even rougher for those that are on the edge of retirement. What is worse: Losing your long-time job less than a year after purchasing your first home, or losing your job after years of paying on time, every time and having only a year or two left on the balance? There is no good answer.

Another company in our area is feeling the economic pressures. Friends and family are in crisis and asking me: “How do I fix this?” I am an accountant and I can pinch a penny hard enough to make it squeal, but I can’t fix this. I have to say to them the lamest words they never want to hear: “There is nothing you can do.” I suggest reducing expenses, conserving usage on necessities, and saving every dime available to prepare for the hard times that seem inevitable currently. These are things they are already doing and there is nothing more they can do.

It’s hard to understand the position of the company doing the layoffs. Believe me, they don’t want you to lose your job either. Deciding what to do about corporate loses and increasing cost of doing business is a painful process for them as well. Those that have already lost their job, I can say to them, speak with the creditors, let them know what has happened and work with them. Hiding from creditors only gets your account sent to collection agencies that get paid a percentage based on how much they get from you.

Writing my own eulogy is pathetic under current circumstances. I would rather see something suggested that helps lift up a reader not remind them of their own mortality. I could turn it around into something humorous or light-hearted, but my heart is heavy at the moment. Instead, I will write these words: If you have something nice to say to someone, even yourself, say it now. It just might make a bad day seem a little more tolerable.