We will open the book. It’s pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year’s Day.
~ Edith Lovejoy Pierce
Wishing you and yours happiness and health in 2010!
Featured Articles
|
|||
This is a selection of 10 articles I thought you might find interesting from the month of December, 2009. This is by no means a comprehensive list, and there were lots more I could have included. Fiscal Fizzle gave us some great information on How to Write a Great Financial Mission Statement. Ray at Financial Highway provided 7 Credit Score Myths you might not know about. Gail Vaz-Oxlade had a nice post titled Happy Is As Happy Does. It was a great reminder of the importance of attitude in everything we do. Tom over at Canadian Finance Blog asked Do You Have Enough Insurance On Your Home? This a good thing to reassess periodically. Rob Carrick at the Globe and Mail had a timely article on Why You Can, and [...]
Read on and enjoy … 20 Cents From December 2009 Happy, happy Christmas that can win us back to the delusions of our childish days; that can recall to the old man the pleasures of his youth; that can transport the sailor and the traveller, thousands of miles away, back to his own fire-side and his quiet home! ~ Charles Dickens, The Pickwick Papers ~1836 Christmas is about home. Even if we’re not in our actual home on Christmas Day, we are likely visiting the home of someone we care about. That can be homey too. I am an unrepentant homebody and I therefore love that Christmas gives me a chance to wallow in some serious home time. For me, home means safety, security, the smell of delicious food cooking, the sound of children playing, music, and above all, comfort. Home is my happy place. Home for Christmas is my happiest place. Wherever you are this Christmas Eve, I wish [...] Read on and enjoy … Home for Christmas To be upset over what you don’t have is to waste what you do have. ~ Ken S. Keyes Jr. Oh, the wonderful, picture-perfect scenes that Christmas time brings: families hugging, enjoying special food and special times together. Everything is perfect. The children don’t squabble, couples are in sync, and any past disagreements are forgotten. This would be wonderful, but it is unfortunately not usually reality. Inevitably, someone will do or say something hurtful or inappropriate, whether purposely or not. The children will not always get along. Old wounds may be reopened. That is the reality of getting a group of human beings with a history together. Does that mean we shouldn’t get together? Does it mean we shouldn’t aim or hope for that picture-perfect holiday? Maybe your cousin will say something insensitive to you, or your uncle will corner you with a twenty minute discussion of something in [...] Read on and enjoy … Celebrate What Is I have always thought of Christmas time, when it has come round, as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely, and to think of people below them as if they really were fellow passengers to the grave, and not another race of creatures bound on other journeys. ~ Charles Dickens If you’re a Dickens fan as I am, you know that one of the central themes in a lot of his work is the idea of conversion. Some evil and/or misguided character sees the light in the end and becomes a better person. Everyone is familiar with the Christmas conversion of Ebenezer Scrooge in A Christmas Carolwhere he ecstatically throws open the shutters of his home on Christmas morning and asks [...] Read on and enjoy … Christmas Conversion  I got the blues thinking of the future so I left off and made some marmalade. It’s amazing how it cheers one up to shred oranges and scrub the floor. ~ D.H. Lawrence Well said, Mr. Lawrence. We’ve spent the past few posts examining some essential but somewhat tedious financial concepts and I, for one, am ready for a change of pace. So, in keeping with the whole balance theme of this blog, we’re going to tilt the boat the other way this week and concentrate on other matters. We’re going to put you in the Christmas spirit, if you’re not already there . My boys are off school, and I intend to let go of the day to day stuff and enjoy my time with them. Can you think of a better investment? It is true that financial issues are important. They deserve our attention – but not all of [...] Read on and enjoy … Taking a Break Is a Great Investment It’s not that some people have willpower and some don’t. It’s just that some people are ready to change and others are not. - James Gordon The third key to change is perseverence. Even if we are able to learn a great deal and put some regular effort into our financial life, we can lose focus and temporarily or permanently give up on our quest. A major or minor setback can be very damaging. There’s no doubt about it. Change is hard. If you’ve ever tried to give up any vice, lose weight, or break any habit, you know that. It all comes down to how badly you want it. How much education and effort are you willing to put in? Are you ready and willing to accomplish your goals? If not, are you willing to deal with the consequences of not addressing your financial needs? Here are [...]
Read on and enjoy … Never again clutter your days and nights with so many menial unimportant things that you have no time to accept a real challenge when it comes along. This applies to play as well as work. A day merely survived is no cause for celebration. You are not here to fritter away your precious hours when you have the ability to accomplish so much by making a slight change in your routine. No more busy work. No more hiding from success. Leave time, leave space, to grow. Now. Now! Not tomorrow! - Og Mandino Once you’ve decided to make a change and you have a plan, it’s time to act. For many of us (myself included) this can be the most difficult part of changing. Most of us really are pretty busy with work, family and all of the responsibilities that come with being an adult. It’s easy to tell [...] Read on and enjoy … 3 Keys to Change Part II: Effort |
  |
||
|
Copyright © 2012 Balance Junkie - All Rights Reserved - Privacy - Disclaimer - Disclosure |
|||
Recent Comments