Ten years ago, I described the Financial Crisis as “the dark before the dawn” in an blog post that went viral. At the time, I was a financial coach, but after transitioning into my own business just before the Financial Crisis, I was beginning to have my own money troubles.
I was entering into my own financial dark night of the soul, and those troubles were about to get much worse….
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I spoke with a friend tonight who is in the process of filing for bankruptcy. She has lost her livlihood, her credit, her car, even her own place to live. After two failed business ventures followed by a health challenge that left her briefly incapacitated, she finds herself now with mountains of debt and no real income. Falling on the mercy of family and friends who have fed and sheltered her the last few months, she has retreated to an earlier profession, wrangling a few hundred dollars a month from friends and aquaintances who can afford to hire her on occasion. She has lost what most people would consider “everything.” As I spoke to my friend, I noticed a palpable shift in her since we last spoke a number of weeks ago. Was it depression? Resignation? Anger, shame, or blame?
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