What do you expect out of life? Is your life being fulfilled by your activities and career? Are the people around you positive or negative? Are you happy in your marriage or where you live? What and who has the most influence in your life?
Do these questions sound unreasonable and without value? Well, they are not, and they have value. These are the people, things, and activities that affect us every day. We allow people, things, and activities to control us, and we come to expect that this is life.
Well, it is. But instead of allowing them to dictate to you, maybe you need to take inventory of who you are and what you are all about. Look at what influences your decisions or life the most. Are you in control of self, or as they say, “Is the tail wagging the dog?”
Let’s take your career first. If you love what you do to earn money, it’s not hard, it’s a joy. Each morning you can enjoy going to work and enjoy the fruit of your labor. But suppose you don’t like your job? You don’t like the people you must work with. Now what? That’s right, you are miserable and you make others miserable around you. This is why the national average states that most people make three major career changes in their lifetime. So, your career or job has a big bearing on what you expect out of life and if you are happy.
Marriage is another very important influence of whether we expect much or little of this life. Why? Because marriage can bring so much happiness, but it can also bring so many challenges or problems; whether it is difficult children, health issues, in-laws, or just two people butting heads all the time. People who remain married to one person have learned the secret of marriage. Neither party can be selfish or controlling. They must make whatever adjustments must be made to have harmony in the home. It’s called unselfish sacrifice. I hate to tell you, but marriage is not about looks, talent, or fame. It’s about love and how two people refuse to be defeated by outside influence. Their marriage has value, and they protect it.
I learned an important lesson early on in my adult life. The world will pay you exactly what you are willing to work for and earn. Whether it’s a living, whether it’s respect, whether it’s friendship, or anything else, you earn it, or you don’t achieve it.
Real friends are valuable, good careers are valuable, good marriages are valuable, nice homes are valuable, good families are valuable. And anything valuable cannot be taken for granted.
It takes just as much work to keep a home up as it does to fix it up. It takes just as much love to keep a marriage alive as it did to get married. It takes just as much work to hold a job as it did to get the job. And I could go on and on.
Here is the bottom line. Don’t blame the world if you are not receiving what you expected. You made the choices. If it needs changing, that’s up to you. As for me and my household, we choose to serve the Lord.
Chaplin Bud
Debt is the destroyer of happiness and the father of stress:
Is borrowing necessary? Yes, money is the way we build our economy and grow a nation.
It takes investments to grow a business.
It takes investments so banks can make money.
It takes investments for new homes and farms.
It takes investments to grow a country.
So, that is the up side. What is the down side?
Borrowing more than you can pay back.
Borrowing without good collateral.
Continued spending beyond the means of income.
Not learning to live within your means.
People getting loans who are not responsible and credible
Too much credit card debt.
The lack of discipline in handling money.
The truth is that you can’t borrow your way out of debt. To stop debt is to stop making debt. This is a simple principle of good common sense. Without margin in your finances there is too much stress. The family is stressed, the breadwinner is stressed, and happiness is destroyed at the root, namely too much debt.
Now, what is the solution to this problem? I believe there is always a solution for everyone.
Dr. Richard A. Swenson, in his book called “Margin”, states that there are some good answers for our debt crisis. I would like to share some of his suggestions.
He said to restore financial margin there are some things that we must do and have control over.
First, stop making more debt. For a very long time we’ve been living beyond our means. ‘Buy now and pay later’ consumes the future and depresses us for the lack of money. Debt is a noose around our necks that will finally hang us.
Second, live within your means. According to Dr. Swenson this is more than a strategy, this is a conviction, the kind you drive a stake in the ground and say, “no more”. This means you may not have everything you want but you will have what you need.
Third, there are only three ways to decrease debt. Increase your income, decrease spending and increase savings. This may mean a second job, not going out to eat, or not taking a long vacation. It takes discipline and real commitment and determination.
Fourth, break the culture death trap. Our culture makes demands that we buy its wares and live by its rules. Our culture has a great power over our spending. However, we don’t have to keep up with the Jones’s but live by our convictions and means.
Finally, we must fast. We understand food fasts. That is to go without food. We can also fast from shopping and impulse buying. We must learn to use it up, wear it out, make it do and do without.
If you want, you can stop this happiness-robber called debt that brings so much stress. Remember, only you control your future. You man need help with a budget or just some encouragement, but you can do it. Other people are doing it every day.
Chaplain Bud,