When I talked to my mother a few days before Christmas, she asked me straight, 'do you still have a job?' Not being eligible for overtime, and not having a second job on these critical times, I replied without thinking, I still have a lot to be thankful for. We then moved on to other topics. Most of us think of the financial crisis as a myth unless it happens to someone our own.

Although their heart's are in the right place, our parents' expectations are based on their times. Those days are gone; nobody works for the government or a single private firm for 20-40 years, and be assured of a decent pension to cover the next three decades.

The ordeal is real whether unemployed or not. It comes in various forms, from manageable anxiety to a terrible nightmare. And within a family, as if we do not have enough yet, it leads to misunderstandings.

Outside the nucleus, it is a chain reaction. How will the newspaper stand or the dry-cleaning service or the cab driver thrive? Not if their regular customers are gone, casualties of a lay-off. That goes for restaurants, hotels, and fashion retailers all the way from Manhattan's Fifth Avenue to Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills. Every business, big or small, is just as vulnerable.

Fifteen months after the word 'recession' was acknowledged, the market showed some positivity, although not enough to be called stable. In the midst of all these, what have we learned? For my katribus, it is something that we've always known before. Kapag maigsi ang kumot, matutong mamaluktot.

Most people generally reach out for the gold, hence, missing the heartwarming in the 'mediocre.' While limiting opportunities, financial shortage never leads to liability of character. It does become a liability for the rich if accompanied by irresponsibility.

Unfortunate are those who are not willing to cut back in order not to lose. It is easy transitioning from moderate comfort to luxury. Extravagance though, paves way for greed. But greed has a way of getting even by itself, even if only halfway.

Meanwhile, anything is possible. Like flurries in the first day of spring, this is temporary.