Aquarius.Soul
My Life. My World. My Soul: unedited
Your Attitude. Your Life.
The longer I live, the more I realize the impact that attitude has on life. Attitude is more important than facts. It is more important than the past, the money, the circumstances, the failures, and the successes and more important than what other people think or say or do. It will make or break a person, a friendship or a home.
The most remarkable thing is that we have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will embrace for that day. We cannot change our past nor can we change the fact that people will act in a certain way no matter what. The only thing we can do is play on the one string that we have and that string is our attitude. We are in charge of our attitudes despite the circumstances. Remember that life is 10% what happens to us and 90% of how we react to it.
Freedom From What Binds
For the past 8 months or so, I have been working to reduce my living expenses. Let’s face it, I like nice things and I tend to buy what I want, when I want and pay it off over time. This has been my mode of operation for years. I got my first credit account at the age of 16 and ultimately ended up with about 16 credit cards by the time I was 23. So needless to say, I didn’t learn to manage money and credit properly…resulting in a lot of overall debt and bad credit. Over the years, I have cleaned up my credit somewhat, but it’s not where I want it to be. Which brings me to the present: I want to get completely out of debt, save about 10% of my salary annually, build a significant emergency fund and also put aside 3 to 6 months’ worth of living expenses, because we all know that jobs aren’t guaranteed and being broke sucks hard and long.
In the past year, I have paid off the same credit card twice. I’d pay off the balance and in a few months charge something again, that would shoot the balance back to the moon. Consumerism is a beast that will suck you in if you allow it and that’s exactly what I had done. Today I took the plunge again, and paid off two cards, but this time I called the credit card company and had the accounts closed and I cut up the cards…no chance of me using them again.
Debt impedes freedom, no matter how you look at it. It’s a binding force that holds you captive to jobs that you hate and situations that you would prefer not to be in. Sure it feels good to sign your name on the dotted line and walk out of the store with your new toy (whatever that may be) but in the end there is no freedom in material things that you really can’t afford. So as for me, I am taking control of my finances and making it work for me. Cutting up those 2 credit cards today was liberating…my financial freedom journey begins.
Invest In What You Believe In
Catchy blog title right? One of my followers on twitter posted that a few days ago and it caught my attention. Its not that I have never heard it before, but because I am in a different place in life, it really stood out and made sense to me.
In the past I have been known for having grand ideas and never executing them…further down the road, I would see that someone else had the same idea and actually did something with it and the idea was a big hit. Every single time this would happen I would ask myself why I didn’t do this or that. It was a frustrating process to say the least, but my I never changed my mode of operation. Thinking back on it now, I am able to say that FEAR was my primary reason for not investing in the things I believed in. Of course no one wants to fail or plans to fail, but we all have that fear in the back of our minds that oftentimes keeps us from moving forward.
These days, things have changed with me. I no longer sit back and watch what I want pass me by. Investing in your beliefs is not always a money thing. The investment could be your time, your ideas, your love, your energy…just whatever it takes to make that special thing come to pass. Sure, you may fail, but at least you can say that you tried and gave your all. Not acting on something because of fear is the worse kind of failure.
Giving Thanks
Well folks, its the second week of 2012 and I have no complaints. I am grateful for all that my life has afforded me, both positive and negative. A lot of times we don’t want to acknowledge the negatives that we encounter, but it is the not so pleasant experiences that mold us to receive our life’s blessings: “IN EVERYTHING GIVE THANKS.”
The Gift of Change
With it being the first week of the new year, I thought it befitting to blog about “change”. We hear constantly that change is good and that without change growth can never come. I admit that I have changed many times over the course of my 38 years here on earth. Some of the change has been good and some of it has been hell, but I did survive and was made a better person because of it.
I often wonder what life would be like if we never accepted the changes that we are faced with. Would we be unproductive and unhappy or would we make the best of where we choose to stay? I have encountered people who have actually taken this route and have remained stuck in the same rut/routine for years with no desire to do anything other than what they are doing. I can’t say that these people are unhappy, because they look and act like they are; but could it all be a farce? How can someone never want to progress from one point to the other is beyond me, but I realized that everyone is not like I am…If I am not moving, I am not living.
We have been given the gift of change, but if we never take the time to unwrap the gift, we will never realize how our lives can be changed for the better. Be open to change.
Sunday Inspiration Vol. 1
Happy New Year! Here is a little inspiration to kick 2012 off right:
She Must Be Gay…
Assuming that a woman is a lesbian based on her clothing,her hair, her femininity or lack thereof is silly. What makes a woman a lesbian is their romantic interest in women, not their outside appearance.
Assumptions are typically a result of ignorance. Most judgments of others are ego strategies to avoid uncomfortable feelings within oneself. When you explore beliefs and assumptions instead of judging people, you open a door to expanded self-awareness and self-acceptance. Rather than unconsciously delighting in the ego gratification of judging others, let your reactions and judgments help you achieve greater self-understanding—and accordingly, greater happiness and success.
When you use your judgment of others as a mirror to show you the workings of your own mind, every person’s reflection can become a valuable gift, making each person you encounter a teacher and a blessing.
