Certain Uncertainty

It certainly isn't hard to find uncertainty these days.

As a matter of fact, everywhere you look there are reminders of just how 'uncertain a time' we are living.

In our neighborhood, homes are currently selling for considerably less than their appraised value of a only year ago. So, how much is our home currently worth? Just how much equity do we have today and how soon can we buy a bigger house to fill with more stuff that we don't really need? Of this, I'm not certain.

Regarding my own family, like so many others, we've recently experienced a salary reduction and watched as coworkers have lost their jobs entirely. In my extended family, I have three brothers who are each self employed and work is scarce. What might our career and financial futures look like? Of this, I'm not certain.

Yesterday afternoon, I stopped for gas at Seven Eleven and paid $1.98 a gallon. As I drove my daughter to school this morning, I saw that the Shell station had regular unleaded for $1.89. (You should know that the previously mentioned Seven Eleven and the Shell station are less than a half a mile apart.) So, I ponder, how much will the next tank of gas cost me?

A few weeks back the price of gas was lower than I'd seen in years. Last week the price seemed to be rapidly climbing back up and was going for just over $2.00 per gallon - I had thought for sure that the little breather from the high prices of gas had drawn to a close. I recall quickly filling up my tank before the price potentially climbed even higher. I guess I was wrong.

Now the price of gas has dropped by nine cents, overnight.

How much will it cost me to fill up my tank this Friday? I'm just not sure.

With all of this uncertainty, a certain (sorry) amount of unrest is expected, and with unrest, anxiety rises and we human types sometimes get a little nervous. You know, we begin taking cautious measures in attempt to grasp at least a thread of some kind of sense of security. We begin to make little changes that we can control, like say, spend less on food by preparing meals at home rather than dining out, brown bagging lunch, carpooling and spending less on our extravagant excessive expensive everyday indulgences like say, our daily

$4 - buck, afternoon coffee.

I believe that I absolutely have to encourage all of us, however, by noting that while we must certainly adjust our spending to fit our declining incomes, at the same time,

we certainly have to keep marching forward, keeping our eyes on the prize and

dreaming the 'American Dream' of hope and prosperity, that is,

if we ever expect to return to, ...the good old days.

You know, the good old days... when home prices were actually more than what was paid for the home five years earlier and all of the ridiculously expensive, name dropping handbags and lavish weekend shenanigans were no brain-er conversation starters around the old water cooler.

Ah, the good old days... when over paying for a fancy purse meant that you were one of the lucky ones who didn't have to worry about how much you spent on a silly purse that you'd end up tossing onto the closet shelf to collect dust within just a few short weeks as you made room on your hip for the newest and most glamorous, overpriced handbag.

Yes, it looks as if ... those ... good old days ... are gone.

Old bag, new bag or no new handbag, we certainly must keep marching on.

Our marching forward is what keeps our world, as we know and love it, in motion.

When we stop marching, we stop needing marching shoes... in other words,

we all stop spending and

our prosperous world stops turning.

When we, the people, stop spending, we all stop earning.

It's really that simple. It's like this:

If I don't purchase new marching shoes, the store where I shop for shoes needs to have fewer employees and buy less merchandise from their suppliers. Suppliers, in turn, have to cut back on the number of employees to make the shoes as well as cut back on the amount of materials they purchase from which to make the shoes. Leather, vinyl, canvas and other shoe type material manufacturers then have to cut back on their supply purchases and now those new shoes that I didn't purchase has affected the farmer and his family, because they are the ones who raise the cow that supplies the hide that provides the leather.

You get the idea.

See what I'm saying?

We simply must keep marching forward.

It's true, due to the salary reduction that I mentioned earlier, my family currently has less income from which to budget expenses like new marching shoes or even an extra tank of gas necessary to make that family getaway to go 'budget friendly' camping.

But make no mistake, this American family is marching forward, full steam ahead, not looking back and expecting a better day to come, tomorrow.

If not tomorrow, then the next day.

If not then,

soon, and hopefully,

in the nick of time

and certainly,

...soon enough.

Until then, we're still going camping - though maybe we'll camp a little closer to home. Regarding new shoes, I should start saving up my pennies and consider buying some new hiking boots rather than another pair of cute sandals, and I'm thinking I'll be using the hiking boots for more than just the next camping trip. These new financially accountable and credit-less roads could prove to be a little rough and tough on the stylishly french pedicured, tootsies. So, off with the sandals and on with the boots.

Oh, ... I'll be paying cash for the new hiking boots - no overpriced credit purchase for this

desperately trying to be positive and happy, :o) camper.

I've learned my lesson, finally, and the funny thing about it is that if I'm honest, I'm reminded of how I lived life when I was a young, struggling to make ends meet college student as well as a period a few years back when my family and I had excessive medical bills that nearly ate us alive...

Back in those days, I bought new hiking boots when I could afford to pay cash for them, or else I borrowed some boots from a friend. Back then, I got out of the house for a little 'break' by stepping outside and chit chatting with a dear neighbor or two instead of making a $5 to $10 date to meet and greet at the trendy corner coffee shop.

We can do this. We can live on what we have rather than what we wish to have or think we should have.

We're Americans.

We created our own country, for crying out loud,

we can certainly do this.

*******

Hey, do you have any money saving activities or meals that you honestly enjoy? Seriously. Let's help each other out and toss around some budget defying food and fun... American Style.

Come on - help out a fellow financial crisis survivor - I know you have some great ideas. Together, we can do this.

Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Someday...

Well, as you can see, my someday never came, or maybe it came and went without me realizing it had arrived.  Whatever the case, while I did go and look for the book that I mentioned in the previous blog, which I will tell you about in just a line or two down, I never did get outside to walk Bear-bear on that chilly February day last week.  Remember, it was cooold outside.

Putting off what I need to do 

until tomorrow 

is not a 

new occurrence 

for me.  

I know you thought better of me than that, right?  Okay, maybe not, especially if you REALLY know me, but still.  I'd like to think better of myself but the truth is hard to ignore when all of your 'somedays' seem to be passing you by as if they are on a jet plane and you are in a rowboat without a paddle.

Now, onto an easier thing for me to talk about, about that book...

It's called, "The Best Year of Your Life", written by Debbie Ford, a #1 New York Time's bestselling author.

I'm mentioning this book because my husband and I read the book last year and  frequently find ourselves looking back to it for encouragement and guidance  as we are trying so hard to strive toward the life that we've  hoped to live for what seems to be like, well, ...forever.

I'm sharing this sensitive info because I believe I've connected a dot or two that is actually going to make some sense of these goals and lists, dreams and aspirations we creative types, and most other types, too, carry somewhere in our minds whether spoken or not.

If you read my second post to this blog, you'll recall that I challenged you to write down a list of things that you want out of life, not out of this year, but how you want things to turn out as a result of living out your entire life.  In the next blog, I shared something about following up each item that you listed as something that you want out of life with an action or plan to accomplish how you think you can get to that place where you're living that thing that you listed as something that you want out of life.

Now, I've recognized what I believe to be a critical/pivotal final step.  

• Name something that you really want out of life...
• Decide what you must do in order to get there...
• Name how you expect to feel when you actually accomplish that thing that you truly want out of life
  

Call me simple but that was HUGE for me.

Debbie Ford is the instigator I must credit for this third step as she addresses the issue of someday and other fantasy based living.  

Yep, you heard me, someday is a fantasy.  

Someday is 'out there' somewhere, and you never actually find it because it is never actually there-there, it is somewhere, sometime, somehow... you get the picture.

Since someday isn't really accountable, all we actually have is now.

So, she suggest that when you identify a goal (that thing that you want out of life from that list that you wrote), take yourself to a place in your thinking and focus on the feeling that you believe you will feel when you accomplish that goal. Here's an example:

Say, you've acknowledged that you want to do something in life that will make you famous.  It's quite possible that what you are looking for in that pursuit of fame is more than just being recognized on the bus or at the grocery store. Maybe  being famous will give you a sense of feeling 'known' for who you are and what you can do.  

So, you want to become famous because you will feel known, loved and appreciated for what you can do and who you believe that you truly are.  

Guess what, you can be known, loved, appreciated  for what you can do and who you believe that you truly are, today, right now. 

Sure, if you work towards that goal of being famous you will be known by millions for all of those qualities,  but if you want, you can enjoy the feeling you expect to enjoy someday, when you become famous, now, right this very moment.

If you'd like to experience those feelings that you expect to feel when you become famous, figure  out what you can do in your daily life to create those very same desired feelings.  That's right - the ball is in your court, right now, not someday, now.

Maybe you can share more of yourself with the people close to you so that they will appreciate who you are even more and will possibly even tell you how special you are and how much you mean to them.  If you want to be  a famous chef, for example, you can cook for your friends and leave them smiling ear to ear every time you get the chance to cook for them.  If they're anything like me, they're going to tell you what an incredibly wonderful cook that you are, right then and there, and you will feel recognized, immediately, for you effort and accomplished cooking.  (Side note - if you're hanging around people that won't say a single kind word to you after you've poured your heart and soul into a meal that they've just devoured, find some new people to cook for, people that deserve the fruit of your generous labor.  Seriously.)

On a personal note... 

One way I can think of to create those feelings I would expect to feel when I become officially recognized for my painting, writing or inspirational speaking is to practice all of those creative ventures, everyday, in every venue that I can possibly reach.  

(Be nice, I'm sharing my heart here.)

I made myself attempt to complete a manuscript for a novel, remember?  That was a goal of mine for a long time  (years and years) that I never even completely attempted until I required myself to take the time to write  a little bit everyday until I finished an entire story.   

Guess what, finishing wasn't that big of a thrill, as a matter of fact, I was sort of let down.  I was done.  I had no real reason to write everyday so I saw the completion of the manuscript as an ending of being able to do something that I loved doing.  I had packed up the pages, dropped them at the post office - my end of the bargain had been fulfilled.  Now, the novel being or not being was up to somebody else.  There was nothing left for me to write... until this blog...  :o)

Then a few days ago a simple thank you email turned into an opportunity to write a monthly newsletter for a local center for the arts.  Sure, not glamorous, but it's an avenue to contribute something by using a gift I've been given.  

Undeniably, fulfilling.

The feeling I really wish to accomplish through my creative ventures is the feeling of having expressed my ideas and knowing that I've done all that I can to get my ideas out of my head and onto the pages or onto the canvas, etc., all the while hoping to encourage, motivate or inspire the next person.    

Being a famous writer or artist is not the real desire for me - it's the perk. Doing what I enjoy doing and knowing that I have used my creative abilities to the fullest is what makes my heart sing.

So, my question to you is this...

On that list of things that you want out of life followed by how you think you need to go about accomplishing those things, what feeling are you expecting to experience when you accomplish those things that you've identified as being what you really want out of life?

I realize this is a little on the touchy feel-y side of things but, write me and tell me because I want to join efforts with you.  

After all, I told you mine, it's only fair that you tell me yours.

Baby, It's Cold Outside!

I know what you're probably thinking,  

'Yeah, right.  It's in the fifties or sixties down there, right?  Get a grip - wear a hoodie.'

Still, ...baby, it's cooold outside.

It's funny how quickly we adapt to our surroundings because, five years ago, a fifty to sixty degree day in the beginning of February would've been such a welcomed relief - a gift, really. But that was then - when we lived in the Northwestern Chicago suburbs where fifty degree weather in February is akin to the biblical parting of the Red Sea.

Anyhow, today, in Sunny Orlando, it's cooold.  So today, I had plenty of ammo to legitimately delay the morning 'walking of the dog'.  I told myself, as I pulled into our driveway at around 7:30 A.M. after having dropped off my daughter at school, that I should probably wait a bit to give Bear-bear his walk/run as it was really much too cooold to be outside .  Later, I told myself, when the sun is completely up, I will walk Bear-bear and neither of us will freeze.  

(For some reason, Bear-bear's puffy fur coat from the obvious Chow-chow portion of his DNA doesn't seem to be quite thick enough for me to recognize that more than likely, he isn't the slightest bit phased by the incredibly frigid temperatures.)

Still, it really was cooold and so instead of immediately grabbing his leash from the hook in the garage as I usually do after dropping off Sydney at school, I entered the laundry room, slipped off my shoes and headed for the coffeepot. Bear-bear shot me a look of what appeared to me as combined disbelief and disgust although I could possibly be reading too much into the look. Still, he was undeniably disappointed and of course, I immediately felt a little guilty.

As I stood there filling my cup with the encouragement that only hot coffee can provide on such chilly mornings, I heard these words in my head, 

'When it gets a little warmer, later - I'll gladly walk Bear-bear and we won't freeze. Later will be better. Later, I will feel like walking him because the sun will be shining and even if it stays cooold, it's way better to walk in the cooold when it's sunny than walk in the cooold when it's still dark and half of my neighborhood is still sleeping.'

Now, I'm stopping right here because as I wrote these words and then took a break to drive my son to his school and found that it was still freezing out there and that it actually hadn't quite hit the fifty degree mark yet, I have to ask myself, will later ever come?  

Once I started thinking about whether or not later will ever come - I thought about everything else that I put off until later or tomorrow, or someday...  and that got me to thinking about a book that I read last year. 

So, ...I'm going to go and look for the book that came to mind when I thought about 'someday' and after I do, I'll get back to this blog thought that I'm looking forward to sharing with you, ...later.