Got Love?

The kind of love I'm referring to today is love for your enemies.  This may be the most difficult kind of love there is.  It's easy to love our family and friends.  The real challenge is to love those on the "other side."  If you're holding grudges, you're not loving.  If you're not forgiving, you're not loving.  If you're only loving those you care about, you're not doing what Jesus asks.

I admitted to a friend the other day that I once had great difficulty with the Lord's prayer.  Jesus teaches us, "forgive us our trespasses as we forgive those who trespass against us."  If we don't have love in our hearts for our enemies, this prayer may as well be a death sentence.  The prayer turns positive when we learn to love our enemies.  Give love a try.  Have a great day.

Drone Photography Offers New Perspectives

 I'm hooked.  Drone photography is like going from a black and white TV to color.  I have much to learn before I get proficient but I'm already able to take my photography to new heights.  The drone I'm using is a gift from our oldest son.  Here are some early morning shots today from the soccer fields adjacent to our home.  Have a great day.

Can You Minimize Your Headaches?

 Not all headaches are equal.  Some are self-inflicted.  Those are the types of headaches I'm writing about today as a person who likes to find clever ways to live a healthy lifestyle.  Once you discover how your headaches are a result of your own actions, you can minimize the pain in your head.  I'm celebrating one year of zero headaches.  This is the kind of story the makers of headache relief medicines don't want you to read because this story could hurt their business.

Proper hydration is important.  When your brain cells aren't properly hydrated, they tell you by sending pain messages.  Stress can do the same thing.  Take a look at your daily activities and make a list of all the things that cause you stress.  I have a feeling you might be missing something, like TV time.  It's so ingrained in our daily life that we don't even realize how much stress we build up from hours of watching. I believe one of the greatest reasons my headaches disappeared is because I decided to cut the cable one year ago.  I also decided to give daily guided meditation a try.  This activity is similar to hydrating my brain cells.  Lastly, I committed to a minimum of eight hours of sleep nightly.  The results speak for themselves.  Get rid of your self-inflicted headaches once and for all by changing your habits.  Have a great day.

Remember to Give Your HSA a Checkup

 The end of 2020 is rapidly approaching.  Make sure you give your HSA a checkup now so that you avoid losing any funds that are not spent by the 12/31 deadline.  You may be allowed a rollover of some funds but anything above the rollover amount is subject to forfeiture if you fail to spend it by the deadline.

I found a nifty site this morning that offers only HSA approved items for sale on their website, HSAstore.com.  If you use this site, make sure you do a coupon code search prior to checkout to maximize your health savings account dollars.  Stay healthy.  Have a great day.

Welcome to Our Happy Place

 The tiny sign in our basement, Welcome to our happy place, pretty much sums up what our household is all about.  The reality is the sign is not necessary.  I believe those who visit our home pick up on the vibe upon entering.  I do my best to extend that happiness into my daily writing for those who may be struggling to find joy.  Happiness, when served to others is highly contagious.

Your happiness does not need to be confined to places or situations.  Happiness is a state of mind you choose no matter what's going on in the world.  Thank you for visiting today.  I hope you find a way to share your happiness with those around you.  Have a great day.

Set Yourself Up for the Roaring 20's

If you take a look at history, everything goes in cycles.  For me, it's much easier to get through the challenging times when I take a look behind and remember the positive turns in my life.  History helps us to see events in cycles.  Nothing ever remains the same.  There is constant motion.  I do my best to learn the lessons that are available in the down cycles and apply those lessons to the good times.

Four years from today, those nasty political ads will be back.  Both sides will argue that it's the most important election cycle in history.  Eight years from today it will be repeated again.  Somewhere in between, we will have good markets and bad markets.  Either way, this decade will be roaring.  Will it be a repeat of what the world remembers after the Spanish flu pandemic ended one hundred years ago?  Is it possible to see another Great Depression in the next ten years?  I don't know.  What I do know is that living within your means, even in times of scarcity, sets your household up for the good times ahead.  Be prepared.  Take charge of your finances.  Have a great day.

Debt-Snowball Method is on a Roll

Our debt seemed so massive eight years ago.  That's when my wife checked out a debt reduction book from the library by Dave Ramsey.  His quote struck me in the heart and reverberated all the way to my empty wallet.  "You need to live like no one else so you can live like no one else," he said.  That's when we had a serious conversation about our finances.  We chose the debt-snowball method, paying our smallest balances off first, then moving on the bigger ones.  I came up with a debt reduction game I call "Par for the Course."  The idea is to track my wins and losses each month similar to the way golfers track their scores.  The game covers the final stages of the debt snowball method we've been using ever since our relocation to the Midwest.  We are now within 90 days of reaching a milestone I once believed only existed in fairy tales for our family.  We've chipped away at all our debts, cut out senseless monthly expenditures, and soon will face one last debt, our mortgage.  It's getting exciting now.  Perseverance pays.  So does debt reduction.  Stay tuned for more progress reports.  Have a great day.