On January 30, 2010, Kimberly Wiefling, Global Business Leadership Consultant, with offices in Redwood City, CA, gave a seminar on "Creating a Vision for Your Future". Sometimes when negative situations happen to people, such as filing for bankruptcy, they ask what they did wrong to deserve it. Other people will criticize saying a person would not be in debt if he knew how to manage money, he would not be unemployed if he worked harder, he would not have been hit by a truck walking across a street if he had not been at the wrong place at the wrong time. These people do not realize that all of life, no matter good or bad, is worth experiencing.
In bankruptcy, a person may fear surrendering property to creditors, but remember to have courage and proceed even when there is fear. Do not wait for courage, but accept the fear. What changes people are experiences, not homework, not degrees. Scratch out the word "hope", and learn what it is like to be pushed off the edge of a cliff, forced to invent water on the way down. Declare what will happen and commit to the outcome.
In bankruptcy, there are different kinds of debts and creditors. A creditor is someone owed a debt. Secured creditors loaned money in exchange for interest in the property. The property is collateral. Secured debts include mortgages, car loans, and furniture loans. With secured debts, besides returning the property to the creditor, a debtor may pay for the property in full and keep it, or reaffirm the debt and agree to continue to pay the debt as if a bankruptcy petition was not filed, knowing that if the debt is not paid, the debtor may be sued for collections. Unsecured creditors are all other creditors such as doctors' bills, credit cards, past-due utilities.
"Hoping" creates disappointment. Every situation is temporary. People can be wrong even when they are sure. For example, when people think of bankruptcy, they think of the negatives like a ruined credit. But, filing for bankruptcy may make something possible that was not possible before. People secretly like to see others taken down. They wonder why they did not do something when they see others accomplish. When other people try to kill dreams, remember that just because they seem sure does not mean they are right.
If you are thinking of filing for bankruptcy, but fear that it is a sign of failure, engage a bankruptcy attorney willing to let the universe surprise, rather than giving strength to complaining or negative people.
