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Attended a retirement party of a friend which made me think … about personal finances and financial planning during unsettling times.
Gratitude that 401K balance did not crash or that you even have a 401K; many people don’t. Many people don’t have healthcare plans. Many people don’t have good health; Many people don’t have secure homes. Many people don’t have education. Many people don’t have a choice. Many people are struggling and it’s not pretty. There’s too much wealth in the hands of so few so the division is greater between the Have’s & the Have-Nots and those with “white privilege” seems out of touch. Hope there’s a balance in spite of the extreme, radical, evil, violent and hateful rhetoric, we know most Americans, including nearly 50% who did not vote, that most people are good people with good hearts. Big Hearts. Just not well informed or not giving it (politics/government) the attention. Too busy. Too bankrupt, time-wise, morally, intellectually or emotionally. Financially, many were afraid of this uncertainty because you know who appears quite impulsive and rash … which breeds fear. That flip flop, taking action from the seat of his pants kind of truly nasty and reactive rhetoric is … scary.

Yet there’s this for comfort:

The bottom line: The U.S. system of government has many checks and balances designed to mitigate the risk of extreme policy changes, so ignore the noise, let the dust settles and abide by your long-term asset allocations. Reacting emotionally is a time-tested poor strategy for managing one’s money. During times of uncertainty, it’s important to craft a financial plan designed with sound investing principles, and keep your eye on your long-term goals.
– Charles Schwab Newsletter

My take on this advice is analogous to my yogic perspective on all:

– Ignore the noise. (yoga techniques I can share are priceless)
– let the dust settle. (don’t let the mind get cloudy or dark – like after a cleansing rain storm, seek clarity, feel it, spell SMELL it, sense it.)
– abide by your values and principles. (the truth “Satya” of non-violence, non-harm but exercising free expressions to embrace differences)
– Do not react emotionally – unless it’s about LOVE:) (I say that we honor them – anger, sadness, fear … honor them but do not be attached & react irrationally.)
– Eyes on the prize – long term goals over short term hysteria. (we are all connected; we are ONE; free trade and fairness for greater pies and more innovations; protectionism and isolationism instead of globalization creates impoverished economy as a whole – if anyone took basic college level economics, we learned this – so free college education for all! Hi Bernie!!)

Only to regenerate and restore …

You know, scripture tells us, “Let us not grow weary in doing good, for in due season, we shall reap if we do not lose heart.”So my friends, let us have faith in each other, let us not grow weary, let us not lose heart, for there are more seasons to come. And there is more work to do.
– Hillary Clinton

Read somewhere about losing is like being buried … But when we get buried, either we are weary buried OR like seeds, buried in order to grow and rise above it all.
If America is willing to take a “gamble” and it is a “gamble” to go with someone with no track record of public service nor foreign policy experience …all the popular votes, buried alive … but they are seeds for the future. The future is not lost. Don’t get weary. Get restored.

We practice yoga, the “real” yoga, so that we are so prepared for these blips. Can overcome … and bide for some time, regroup. Please take care of yourself.

Popular Votes don’t decide the outcome …She had 223,000 more popular votes !
59,861,038 votes (47.7%)
59,638,006 votes (47.5%) Yet, if you know the American system – it’s about the electoral college. Luckily she’s gracious enough to not call it “rigged” as another you know who would have.

So impressed – “acceptance” and letting it go as all successful and effective people are capable of doing:

This is painful and it will be for a long time, but I want you to remember this. Our campaign was never about one person or even one election, it was about the country we love and about building an America that’s hopeful, inclusive and big-hearted.
We have seen that our nation is more deeply divided than we thought. But I still believe in America and I always will. And if you do, then we must accept this result and then look to the future.
– Hillary Clinton

It’s something about that highly educated advance- degreed white lady with ambition to make history – that common folks do not approve? Great credentials and lifetime of public service is commendable but it’s a suspect sometimes… suspect for mistrust. It’s a shame. I had high hopes for her and feel very sorry for her but she was surrounded by advisers who came too much from that same world of the bubble of ignorance – not ignorance of the ivory tower but ignorance of common folks whose mindset is more about … economy, the livelihood. Leaders have to have good advisers, good pollsters … and not be too insulated in a bubble of self-righteousness and superiority complex, ego trip of higher moral values, etc. She definitely had the wrong IT adviser and misguided focus-group focused on the wrong group. All these years in public SERVICE… so deserving of the nation’s highest job. She could have lived a much easier life just being a successful attorney or just being a former first lady or secretary of state but … that drive to stand against a bully, so commendable. But in the end, that’s the thing – it became more about the character of candidates rather than the issues and how things were going to get better for those who saw and felt the inequality all around them mostly based on access to quality education… safe neighborhoods, quality affordable health care, peace of mind with good jobs, jobs, jobs to raise a family with self-dignity.

Sadly this did not happen.
It’s very interesting and I have not heard the analysis, etc. but I think in some ways, I can understand it. And instead of denial, I will come to accept it. It’s not an acceptance of defeat but acceptance that we need to work harder. It’s so typical that a woman works really really hard and is the most qualified but they fill the position with a man – her own people trips her up.

That’s basically it – it’s beyond the analysis when some demagogue goes for the emotions called fear and anger. We are emotional beings and sometimes not equipped to question and easily deceived – not so rational when vital needs are not met. Those elite in the upper 3-5% can “afford” to be rational, intellectual, “right”, but … that’s the trouble. It’s that “Bread? Why? Let them eat Cake!” kind of lack of empathy being so removed from the daily struggles of many so called non-college educated “stupid” they would be referred to folks. There is still a lot of racism and … sexism. Because one has to place blame somewhere. With the first black President, his kind all supported him. With Hillary, probably many of her kinds, white middle aged white women who should have all voted for her and should have been so PROUD of her, FIRST WOMAN US PRESIDENT did not turnout. Many people just did not connect? Why? Sadly, wrong set of advisers, all themselves probably entitled with some Ivy League education, out of touch with people they needed to reach out to. Education for citizens to make that “rational” judgement based on reason, requires deep critical thinking about “issues” and “policies” and “vision” BUT many cannot AFFORD that education that has become the ticket for that tech-brain or desired professional globally minded jobs. So they remain susceptible to just going on “emotions” “gut” and sound bites. Better livelihood for all – and that’s about access to quality education and college education for all. Bernie-ish?

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

– Martin Luther King, Jr.

It’s not easy. To be the laughing stock of the world; a joke; to be called the “ugly Americans”. Is that perception making America great again?
Let’s shift and make the change needed for really that better America for all hard working Americans, not just for the privileged where you know who comes from.

Take a deep breath, in – out. To the beach; to the forest. Turn off the electronics. May sensibility, peace and strength prevail.