Debt Problems: Turning Things Around

 If you’ve ever found yourself financially broke or buried in debt at one point in your life, I’m sure you still remember how it felt. The feelings of despair and helplessness, the sleepless nights, the endless anxiety about the future- A lot of people will never understand until they have experienced it for themselves.
From personal experience and from my work as a bankruptcy attorney, I’ve learned that the first step to financial recovery is to acknowledge responsibility for where you are. I find that much energy can be wasted on trying to assign the blame on someone, the economy, the government, etc., but that doesn’t get you anywhere. You can also keep wishing that things were different and ignore your present reality but until you accept things for what they are at the moment, you will remain powerless to make a change. Leave the past where it belongs and focus only on what you can control.
I am not in any way diminishing the magnitude of your problem if your situation is overwhelming and complicated. To the contrary, I realize that you didn’t end up where you are overnight so it may take time to find a solution. There are usually no magical transformations. But every step you make in the right direction beginning right now will help. In some cases, it takes months or years for people to recover from a financial crisis and that’s perfectly OK if that’s the best possible outcome under the circumstances.
For example, during the peak of the foreclosure crisis from 2008-2011, I’ve helped hundreds of clients who were facing the loss of their home. While a lot of people were able to do so, there were others who simply could no longer afford their mortgage payments. I encouraged the clients who lost their home that foreclosure was not the end of the world and that eventually, they will be able to buy a home again. I have seen a lot of clients do just that in just a few years later. Remember: Nothing in life is ever permanent and the one thing you can be sure of is that things change all the time. You may be down right now but up again before you know it. Eventually, the pendulum of life swings back.
Ray J. Bulaon is a debt and tax resolution attorney in Valencia who has helped more than 5,000 clients. For a free confidential consultation, call his Valencia office at 866-477-7772.