Opening a letter from a utility company to find a higher bill than you are expecting can have a dreadful impact on you. It might literally make your throat go dry, cause your heart to race, or make you feel weak at the knees for fear of being unable to pay it.
Receiving a medical bill or an insurance charge for something that you needed, but which you put onto a credit payment, or long term finance package, can really hurt you emotionally. It can have such a negative impact on you as to remove any of the originally intended good that came from the procedure, the treatment or the remedial work that was so necessary at the time of purchase.
Hiding a debt from a partner will cause you to behave out of character, to lie or to pretend that things are well, while all the time the dark presence of the debt is draining you of energy, of vitality and of being your real self. Eventually they will see through you and get a glimpse of the burden you are trying to carry on your own. Don’t hide your debt. Recognise it, calculate the value of it, and above all, learn to talk about it.
Each letter, each unidentified call to your mobile phone, is another source of anxiety and of fear taking a grip on you. The shame and pain of carrying secret debt can manifest into high blood pressure, anxiety, depression and even thoughts of a suicidal nature. It can rob you of sleep, of good health, and of personal happiness for the sake of carrying with you the worries, the fears and the torment of being out of control with our finances. Being in debt can be painful and unpleasant.
It is also completely unnecessary. Yes, you don’t need to live like this or to put up with ongoing debt. You have the chance to fight back and to begin - slowly and steadily at first - to take back control of your money matters.
Recovery from debt requires effort and patience, but it also needs your commitment to the fight. Every day you have a choice about whether you take on new debt or focus on clearing the debts you have. It takes courage too. You cannot get rid of a problem until you have first acknowledged and accepted your role in letting it happen.
So let’s accept where you are with the debt, and begin the process of tackling it. How do you do this best? By dealing with the problem one Pound, or Euro or Dollar at a time.