The Emotional Marketplace

Every day in the business world, we see a constantly changing wave of emotion being represented by the moods and attitudes of people responding to the things they are hearing, seeing, and feeling. The kinds of emotions that we attach to our “security” regarding our means of livelihood or our fears about not having sufficient means for our desires leads to a multiplicity of responses depending upon the moment and the circumstances. The pendulum of extremes often comes into play when many others join us in having the same emotions at the same time. Intensity of emotion will do more to depress or inflate the marketplace responses of people over many other more practical and measurable factors.

When we hear about an executive of a large corporation with substantive name recognition having a personal crisis…the stock price of that corporation often declines.
News on the street has a way of suggesting that some factor may reduce the abilities of that corporation to act in a consistent and positive manner.

When the government acts to restrain or support credit opportunities, speculators on both sides of banking begin to swing their responses in favor of or in opposition to such actions. They “bank” their support by buying and selling bonds as an expression of their commitment to the future. They respond emotionally rather than technically.

In such matters as these, human emotion drives initial responses to extremes, followed by corrective actions, in light of what are recognized as overly acted upon emotions. Thinking usually follows strong emotional responses and often, additional actions are taken that reflect more measured calculation after a period of reflection.

Recognizing the emotional triggers that stimulate us and cause us to take extreme actions should remind us that our anxieties are often a product of our making. We upset ourselves because we fear and we want and we desire for ourselves in ways that essentially are unhealthy.

Jesus taught us that when we comprehend the true security of a life lived in a relationship of faith in Him, we are promised the means by which our needs will be met. What we fear often is our aloneness when we exercise an unwillingness to trust God and instead seek to make our way independently of God and his calling upon our lives. Such an existence is not the abundant life God has for his children. Such a life will be self-destructive and self-absorbed.

God has made himself known to us in His Son, our Savior, Jesus Christ. Get to know
Him and you will find what is missing in your struggle to feel secure…to feel safe…to feel at home and at peace. In Christ we find the peace that so much of our world is at a loss to know. Share Christ …for the sake of the world that needs to know Him.