What is this crisis anyway? This is today a recurring
question. Politicians are asking it, economists, ordinary people. In 1933,
even Rodolfo De Angelis introduced funny lines in his songs to highlight
the social and economic climate following the Great Depression of 1929.
Even if today we are not experiencing exactly the same conditions, we live
nevertheless in a period of great uncertainty and people react in
different ways: there are those who claim that a recovery is impossible
and those who instead see a bright future, the beginning of a new era.
We are back to the shoestring. To do something on a shoestring means
that one wants to start something important without having the means to
achieve it or wanting to spend what is necessary in order to succeed. From
a psychological point of view, however, this proverb can have a double
meaning. On one hand, it shows the desires to put more weight to the
imagination than on concrete things, to appear without being. We could
say: "Let's make people believe that we are powerful even if, in reality,
we have so little means". And on the other hand, the meaning is opposite.
Despite difficulties, we can go ahead and look at the future: even with
little means, one does not give up, one accomplishes things and builds a
future.
Test: What is this crisis anyway?
1) There is the mad cow flu, the swine flu and the
avian flu therefore:
a) let's all throw ourselves on
sweets
b) we need more rigour
c) it will worsen
2) When you imagine China you think
about:
a) the economic power
b) a Chinese restaurant
c)
the Great Wall of China
3) In the fable "The Grasshopper and the Ant" you
are:
a) the grasshopper
b) the ant
c) the author
4) You participate in a bet, you:
a)
are afraid of losing
b) hope that you will win
c) only do this for
entertainment
5) Someone offers you a beautiful home which is
about a meter from an extremely busy road, you:
a) sell it
b) move in
c) cover it with a billboard advertising
6) One of your friends has had a really gloomy
day, you:
a) try to cheer him up
b) become sad as
well
c) go somewhere else to enjoy yourself
7) If you imagine a wall; it is:
a)
made of cement
b) made of bricks
c) covered with leaves
8) You lend someone an object:
a)
certainly, they will give it back to you
b) certainly, they will not
give it back to you
c) maybe, they will not give it back to you
9) You are doing really well at work, but, at
school, you were among the worst; your new colleague is an old school
companion, you:
a) ask him to not talk about it
b) think if
people end up knowing, well, what can you do
c) tell everyone
immediately about your failures at school
10) Someone offers you an interesting job but you
have no experience, you:
a) plunge right in
b) accept with
doubts
c) renounce
11) More courage is needed to:
a) face
daily life
b) go to an unknown country
c) tell the boss what you
really think about him
12) An alien arrives and falls madly in love with
you, you:
a) hide
b) live a love story until he
leaves
c) you leave with him
13) Life is short, therefore:
a) it is
useless to waste time doing bad things
b) it is essential to satisfy
your every desire
c) we should just go along
14) Songs often talk about love
because:
a) they make us dream
b) it sells
c) they have
no imagination
15) Is it better to have an egg today or a hen
tomorrow?
a) an egg today
b) a hen tomorrow
c) there are
also fruits and vegetables...
SCORE
| Question | A | B | C |
| 1) | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 2) | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 3) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 4) | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| 5) | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 6) | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 7) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 8) | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 9) | 1 | 3 | 2 |
| 10) | 2 | 3 | 1 |
| 11) | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 12) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 13) | 3 | 1 | 2 |
| 14) | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| 15) | 1 | 2 | 3 |
FROM 45 TO 34 POINTS:
A CRISIS IS
A STARTING POINT
To you, a crisis is a challenge and you don't shy
away from a challenge. Even if the transportation you are riding on has
arrived at the end line and you are forced to get off, you go ahead
walking and rediscover the pleasure of a stroll or even a climb, or you
find new ideas and invent another means of transportation.
FROM 25 TO 35
POINTS:
YOU JUST DO IT
In a pool you are not
afraid to climb on the highest diving-board and when you are up there (and
you understand why they call it the highest diving-board), you decide if
you make the plunge or climb back down the narrow ladder by which you came
up. Even then you are pleased with yourself; if it's not this time, maybe
next time and maybe not, but at least you tried.
FROM 24 TO 15 POINTS:
HELP!
HELP!
Life has not been fair to you, or so you say. Too much
thinking, too many uncertainties, but you try to straighten your shoulders
and have confidence. Within you, around you, there are new opportunities.
You get things done one way or the other and are happy nonetheless. Even
if you have few means, you still have something and you can always share.
