- Image via Wikipedia
A little confused about what to give to the various charity organizations who seem to beseech your help throughout the holiday season? Sometimes, it just takes a little creative visualization to get to the right answers. Imagine that you’ve lost your job. In the economic climate that has pervaded American offices for several years, this is easier than it has been in generations. Now that you can more easily picture that you’ve got no income, what comes next? Living off of the savings that you’ve accrued during years of gainful employment. But with a mortgage, car payment, insurance on both of those, plus health insurance, and possibly kids to feed, savings evaporate quickly. There’s a lot of outflow, but not a lot of inflow. Perhaps you can find some freelance work, but in a tight hiring environment, it’s hard to find a regular, permanent job.
So you might eventually consider going onto unemployment. But benefits don’t last forever, and regardless, they don’t pay as much as you got used to receiving while working. So even with a bit of outside government assistance, you’re still struggling to pay the bills. This ins’t so hard to envision – it has happened to millions of people in the last few years. Considering that America has long been regarded as the richest nation, this commonplace nature of this scenario is staggering.
This in mind, and fresh, empathetic mental pictures of your own potential struggles to guide your way, you might consider giving extra this holiday season. Dig deep – there are more than the usual number of people out there who could use a helping hand. If you can afford to, be at least twice as generous as you might usually be towards various charities. Stop when you see Santa ringing a bell outside a store. Add to the coffers. Because that aid could be going to you.
