Declaring bankruptcy is never an easy task as it strikes a blow at the very heart of one's self image. A divorce, lost investments and a business in shambles due to a jobless recovery had created a train wreck out of my financial world. After a couple of years of juggling lines of credit, credit cards and my investments in order to keep my business afloat, it all came crashing down along with the financial markets. There were no more life lines and with my retirement accounts dwindling, my choices were limited...the future was pretty bleak. Admitting failure is never easy and having grown up in a Midwest culture where one perceives their "word to be bond" my ego was definitely under attack. I was referred to Michael Jude by a friend who had files bankruptcy a few years earlier. It was not easy to remember how I had judged her and her fiscal failures only to find myself in the same dilemma. Putting my pride aside and doing my best to quiet that judgmental voice in my head, I scheduled a meeting to discuss the process and what I perceived was going to be my biggest failure. The thing I remember most about the first meeting with Michael and his staff was how they put things into perspective. They helped me separate my identity, whom I perceived myself to be, from my role, an investment the financial institutions had made. We talked about the many successful companies and individuals who had filed bankruptcy (United Airlines, Frontier, GM and twice for Donald Trump) and how, in the eyes of an investment company, an individual is no different than any other investment. That in turn led me to think about the many companies I had invested in and while some made money for me others either lost or went totally out of business. Although I have enough worthless stock certificates to paper a small room, I don't hold that against the issuers of the stocks. As an adult I had made an investment that either produced or did not and there was nothing personal about it. The banks, I assume, did the same with me. Altering my view of myself as an "investment allowed me to alter my identity to that of a "role" I played for the companies that had invested in me. For 30+ years I was a great investment for many banks and credit card companies and then for reasons beyond my control (airlines for example) the situation changed and my ability to provide a solid return diminished. My failure had less to do with who I am than the environment that brought it about. My bankruptcy is now final and life goes on. I greatly appreciate the work that Michael and his team did in keeping the process and in helping me keep my head on straight through the entire procedure.
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