I know very few people who have come through the last year financially unaffected. Almost everyone has had some shift in their financial life: lowered spending expectations, higher credit card interest rates, retirees having to go back to work, people losing jobs and relocating, fewer patients in our clinics and those who do come in opting for fewer visits. Whoever we want to blame for the financial tsunami that has affected most of the planet one way or another, anyone with sense can see that it is going to take time for this contraction to “respiral” itself outward into renewed growth.

That being said, if we truly believe in the fundamental principle of our medicine…the co-creating and codependent yin and yang of the universe…we know that nothing can or should expand forever. Within any alive and, therefore, dynamic system there must be a balancing force of contraction. The good news is that nothing lasts forever; and the bad news is that nothing lasts forever.

So what can inspire us in our work and our lives through this current difficult financial cycle? Perhaps the year of the OX (ending Feb. 13, 2010) was a help to all of us, the energy of the OX being plodding, persevering, steady. The coming year of the Tiger, however, could be energetically more volatile and certainly not plodding or patient, though the Tiger can be both fierce and tenacious. We may have to try harder to stay focused and to accomplish our lives with compassion for ourselves and the larger world. Below are a few things I think about to help myself until the universe changes the flow of things.

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1. I try to separate my self-esteem from all money issues. Who I am and how I participate in the various communities of which I am a member, is more important that what I have. Consider this; think about a party you attended last year. What might you remember about that party? For me it would be the fellowship or a particular connection I made with someone. What I will not remember is what I or anyone else was wearing, whether I had on new shoes or earrings, what kind of gifts were exchanged, how fancy the house was or wasn’t, or what sort of auto anyone drove.
2. In Chinese medicine we are always trying to balance the qi, blood, yin, and yang of our patients. We know that a balanced life can have little or nothing to do with a balance sheet. Beyond our basic expenses, most everything else is negotiable.
3. There could be some interesting opportunities here for joining forces with other colleagues to cut expenses and create prosperity. One of the most successful clinics I have ever heard about is a five-treatment-room clinic that is open seven days a week from 7:30AM to 7:30 PM. There are four or five practitioners, each working about 30-35 hours per week. Everyone has to work at least one weekend per month and there are always two practitioners on duty. The cost of the lease per month is less for one large clinic than for three or four smaller ones. There are three receptionists each working 32 hour weeks doing billing, inventory and ordering, tidying rooms, answering phones, managing the website-appointment-book, doing reminder calls, and online insurance billing. This is a really good idea, cuts expenses for everyone and creates far more energy, interest, traffic, product sales, and buzz that any solo clinic can possibly do.
4. It is tempting to try to do more when times are tough, hurrying here and there to cope with all the work and stress. Instead of trying to DO more, why not slow down and try to BE more? Consider each project, possession, relationship and commitment in your life. This could be the perfect time to let go of some of the extraneous stuff, that which is no longer meaningful to you. Remember, the slower you go the more you can see; the faster you go, the more your life feels like a blur.
5. Much of the time it is so easy to be dreaming about the future or stuck in the past, which means we miss the power of this moment, the only moment we really have! When you pay attention to the details of what is right in front of you each moment and live/co-create each one with the best integrity and intelligence you can muster, the future is then taken care of already. I’ll give away my age and quote Crosby-Stills-and-Nash’s Teach Your Children Well. “The past is just a goodbye.”
6. Do what you can, at least one thing every day, to work at growing your business. This might be an article written, a blog posted, a website updated, a speech arranged for, collection letters written, phone calls to several clinics made, a volunteer opportunity with other community members. Then let go and allow the universe to do what it does, knowing that letting go is not the same thing as giving up.
7. For me, prayer and meditation create the space for a new inspiration, a new possibility, courage when I’m completely frightened, and a steadier outlook on my problems. If this resonates with you, take the time each day.
8. Be courageously and genuinely happy about the things in your life that truly make you smile. According to Napolean Hill’s classic, Think and Grow Rich, the universe responds to the messages we send out. If we are negative and glum with worry and fear all the time, that’s what we’ll get back all the time. For most of us, not everything is so awful that there is nothing to smile about!
9. Maintain a regular schedule as much as possible. When things are stressful, I find it even more important to keep my lifestyle regular and “cool” rather than exciting and “hot.” While it is clearly more boring, a regular life schedule helps me maintain yin and blood and limit the entrapment of liver qi depression and binding. Qi stagnation and yin/blood insufficiency are the Chinese medical definition of “I feel stressed, exhausted, cannot sleep, and my digestion is not great.” So the best thing for maintaining my health and balance in tough emotional times is to go to bed early, use the early mornings wisely, eat well and simply (which is also cheaper), exercise as much as I can without creating more stress around it, don’t watch violent TV right before bed, and take things a little slower in general.
10. Whatever is going on, when you are with patients, work toward being totally present with them and doing the best possible work that you can. Be great, be inspired, be the best thing in their lives for that short piece of their day. THAT (plus a bit of signage requesting their referrals) is the best marketing in the world. If you can do that with most of your patients most of the time, your patients will love you and the universe will support you.

As anyone’s whole life passes before their eyes on their deathbed, money (other than perhaps what was shared, given away, or used for the highest purposes) will not be, I expect, what any of us is thinking about. As I get older, the people I am envious of are not those with unlimited money; they are those with unlimited love and purpose in their lives. Today I am thinking about a man named James Burgett who lives in Los Angeles. A former homeless drug addict, James has spent the last decade refurbishing old computers and donating them to schools, non-profit organizations, and shut-ins. He hires others who have been on the fringes of society to help him do this work and they have kept some million tons of computer salvage out of the land-fills in the bargain. How does James make a living doing this? I have no idea, but I am fairly sure after reading his story that he is a happy man.

So my suggestion for all of us is to remember that we are now in the year of the Tiger, who represents fierce and courageous tenacity even in adversity. Then remember that everything changes and every cycle passes. While none of us gets any promises in this world, we all have the opportunity to make the best we can out of every day we are given.

Good luck and best wishes to us all for the year of the Iron Tiger.