Friday, September 24, 2021

 The Time is Right Now

Don't put off another day for happiness, finances, and health.  Take 30 minutes to an hour to dedicate to one or all of these.  Look at your surroundings.  Do they make you happy?  If not, what can you do to change them?  Schedule time to paint a room or clean out a cluttered closet.  Just the smell of fresh paint makes you feel good again.  A cluttered space, car, or office space is indicative of a cluttered mind.  Clean it up!  Open your bank account and review your balance.  Do you want to save more money?  Start your budget today and include your housing expenses, food, gas, insurance, etc.  Be realistic and include savings.  This is usually overlooked in a budget.  Do not spend all of your money down to the last nickel.  At the end of the month, if you have any money left in your bank account, shift the amount into your savings keeping a small cushion in your checking account.  Are you carrying too much credit card debt?  Pay your bills once a month to get on a routine schedule. Pay your high interest rate debts first.  Once that is paid, take the monthly payment and apply it to the next highest interest debt and so on.  Do not pay just the monthly billed amount.  You will never pay off your debt that way.  Look at yourself in the mirror and ask this question-do you like what you see?  Chances are you would like to change something about how you look or feel.  Your perception may be over critical.  Be kind to yourself.  If it is weight, start walking a couple of times a week or cut out or even reduce the amount of sweets you eat or eliminate eating after dinner.  Changing your diet - not dieting using so many of those fad or costly diets - by eating more protein and vegetables will move you in the right direction.  Buy a set of kettle bells and a medicine ball.  I bet you never thought of them or even heard of them! Use them a couple of times a week.  There are exercise programs you can follow on your Smart TV.  A little goes a long way to increase your heart rate and metabolism.  Be accountable for your actions.  Schedule a monthly or quarterly review for yourself and note your progress.  

Friday, September 17, 2021

Sunshine on a rainy day

 I look out the large windows around me of our newly renovated addition to our home-the great room-and see lots of greenery.  The gray sky is the back drop to such lush foliage.  The scene is a reflection of my life right now.  So much beauty and yet that gray is holding me back...keeping me from pursuing my future.  I want to take hold of my life.  I want to embrace what I know will bring me a level of satisfaction I have not yet known.   Today,  is the beginning of the rest of my life.  Today, I start thinking of me.  What I want and who I am.