And just like that we have a new driver in the Covaleski household. It’s so strange to see him in the drivers seat and not be just pretending to drive. Mitch has been looking forward to this day for the longest time and I could not be happier. Strangely enough, I am not nearly as scared as I thought I would be and I think that is mainly because he is such a responsible person. I can’t help but to think that will overflow into his driving practices.
I sat down earlier today and thought about writing this because there was a five to ten minute time period where I truly believed I was the only person that’s experienced the overwhelm when looking into creating a budget. Now, I am sure you have heard me talk about ‘Numbers’ before, if you forgot or have not heard of this Numbers concept, it is simply that we are more likely to find health and happiness if we are aware of our Numbers. What are Numbers you may ask? Finances, Time Management/ Planning, and Weight. When we are mindful of these three aspects of living, we are in the drivers seat to find our life’s purpose and live the joy we were designed to live.
I find it very interesting when I think about these aspects as they cover a broad range of ‘stuff’ BUT they all have something in common… they are all able to be sought out and understood, but are rarely talked about and dare I say even taboo. In fact, just add age in there and it is quite the socially awkward conversation starter. In fact, it may just be enough to clear a room and have people unfriend you. And these facts don’t need to be shared with others, but they are widely available for us to research and understand… but we don’t. And the last thing, besides ability to be watched and understood and social awkwardness, that they have in common is they are relatively plannable if not predictable barring any large scale, life shaking event. Sure there are seasons that our time is shaken up and routines are rerouted. Our finances may ebb and flow with the time of year, seasonal jobs, or spending. And our weight may fluctuate with the time of the month or whether or not we are ‘in training’. But none-the-less, those times are much less than the times we have to get a handle on the very aspects of life that can really hold us back from our best life.
So… I did what any good planner would do and I bought a planner/ binder to help with planning and collecting our finances. Please don’t think I missed the irony of buying something to help save money… it’s very similar to the days I would make a special trip to the store to haul out those large plastic totes so that I could simplify my clutter. Don’t get me wrong there are great uses for them, but I know the majority of our bins could have been elliminated if I would have just had a better handle on my emotions at the time,. But, that’s a post for another day. I digress…
I opened it up and got instantly overwhelmed. So, I turned to my weekly planner then to my workout planner and realized… I have a planner problem. It seems that I have fallen back into the rut of pretty pens and thick, smooth paper as my actions to plan my actions in full understanding that planning is the best procrastinator. So, after I realized my ways, I broke out of my trance (brought on by pens and paper no less) and seized the moment. I sat down and started, Pen to paper. I wrote in the new budget planner *anyone else have so much anxiety about being perfect that they don’t write/ hesitate to write in their journals/ planners? What is that all about???!!! Anyway, I did it! I marred my beautiful journal with my simple, not word lettering fancy, hand writing. I looked up some bank statements and other finanacial information I have literally at my finger tips and I did the ugly, yet oh so necessary work of getting the facts on paper and starting a budget. It’s not pretty, but it is something I will look at daily. I plan to keep the pretty pens near the planner(s) and I will record both online and in person spending, utilities and even monthly subscriptions (gasp!). Come on I can’t be the only one that feels a little out of control with monthly subscriptions?
So, in the title I mention “Action”. Which is to say… what I am doing or did. So, I plan to update y’all on my progress. But for now, just know that a weight has been lifted when I realized my old thinking and powered through. Showing her that she no longer has a voice in my decisions and that her discomfort is because she hasn’t been updated on my new goals full of the kind of joy that overflows and spills onto others. So, please feel free to be inspired. If you have a handle on your numbers… I am sure you can find another area of life that you may be reluctant to begin. Just start ugly and in time you can slowly mold it to what you want it to be. We will never have all the answers, but we can start and learn along the way.
Maybe Nike has been right all along… I cannot help but to think the huge advantage I would have if I had just listened to Michael Jordan in his Chicago Bulls uniform telling me to ‘Just Do It’ oh so long ago! But then I am reminded of a beautiful quote by Dan Millman, “Where are we? Here When is it? Now”.
Let’s go change the world one smile at a time by just starting the thang we’ve been running from!