Perspective

I've had a few recent freak outs regarding finances. I'm not sure if it was triggered by an accounting error I made, the large numbers on bills rolling back from Christmas shopping, my desire to resolve to save more and spend less in 2006 or just the general obsessiveness that I possess. It's probably mainly in part to that last one....detect me being humble....

My husband and I both have good jobs and we're pretty happy with "the bacon" we bring home. We're not raking it in but we do fine. Without getting too personal about our finances, I'll just say I'm not the lady on Oprah yesterday who revealed to her husband that they have about $160,000 in credit card debt and student loans. Wow! In fact, I'm very far from that. However, I still obsess about our expenses. Those who know me best realize that I worry WAY too much! Don't consult with my husband on this one as he would say I never stop worrying.

One of my worry sessions was recently squelched with a cup - more like a gallon - of perspective. The week before Christmas a dear friend of mine gave birth to a beautiful baby girl. A few days later I received a call from another friend informing me that she, the new mommy, had a pulmonary embolism. At that point we didn't know many details but that it was important to pray for our friend. I had just been slapped into realizing that my little financial hissy fit was extremely minor to other things in life. I'm happy to say that both mommy and baby are home safe now.

Since then I've been thinking a great deal about perspective and hope to take a step back in 2006 and gather my thoughts and search inside my soul when I begin to worry about things. There are no promises here but I'm going to try.

Perhaps I need to do a bit more of letting go and letting God!

Here's to a broad perspective in 2006!