Ups and Downs

My research* indicates the following as the eight stages of the emotional roller coaster known as PFU (Personal Financial Upheaval):

*Yes, "research" is my fancy term for talking with unemployed friends and seeing 401Ks offer themselves up as sacrificial lambs


1. Panic!
#@^&^^!, What will I do?!

2. Bargaining.
If I could just get that job back or my 401K share prices to inflate, I’d never complain of my company, of my salary, again. Ever.

3. Fear.
How will I sustain my lifestyle and livelihood?

4. Brief Depression.
I have no idea how to sustain my lifestyle and there is nothing lively in my hood.

5. Reflective Melancholy. Yearning for the good old days.
I remember when I could buy a round of drinks. Now I can’t buy a round of toilet paper.

6. Reassessment of Goals, Hopes and Dreams.
What was I really working for?

7. Creative Brainstorming. New paths to Goals, Hopes and Dreams.
What will really make me happy?

8. Realization.
That perhaps the old means weren’t really getting us to the ultimate end.