A friend came to visit the dojo recently and asked how things were going. I said, "Great! I'm bursting with ideas, inspiration, and enthusiasm! I can't find time to do it all!" She seemed a little shocked, considering the crashing global economy, an endless and bitterly divided presidential election season, and the multi-year global backdrop of terrorism, war, and poverty.

The economy especially is what we are told to worry about most right now. It used to be terrorists, but now it's the economy. I get it - I'm actually very interested in economics and nearly majored in it in college. The economy is clearly contracting at the moment, whether we technically call it a recession or depression or credit crisis.

However, the idea that the economy must expand forever, and that my personal happiness is tied to that perma-expansion, is ridiculous. For one thing, nothing expands forever. Aside from that necessary truth, the economy of the United States is so huge that there is more than enough room for any given person to succeed under any conditions. A global economic contraction means a whole lot of change - change means energy - and energy can be put to good use. To me, it's about recognizing changing conditions and using intelligence to fit in with those conditions.

On top of that, my personal financial happiness is best measured in terms of my money-related power and freedom, not absolute dollars. The way money turns into power and freedom is complex - certainly the amount of money available is a factor, but the value of money (ie. inflation) is another factor. Even more than that, one's positioning to take advantage of opportunities vastly impacts how much money it takes to get certain things done. Consider how much money it takes to "have a good time" on a given afternoon - it really depends on circumstance, company, and attitude. When you remember that the point of acquiring money is happiness via freedom and power, the equation gets enough variables that a contracting global economy is just a backdrop to your personal story.

More should be said about "positioning to take advantage of opportunities", and our ninja tradition is precisely the distillation of this wisdom. If you're intrigued by how a ninja perspective of life creates more awareness of positioning, which translates into tremendous leverage in all circumstances, then you're getting a taste of potential of our lineage. We need it now more than ever to live brightly in what most would call dark times.