Dumping Debt: The Calling

When I posted about my New Year’s Resolutions this year, I hinted at some of the struggles we have been through over the last 3 to 4 years.  I mentioned “obliterating” our debt and then having a plan to have the last of it finished in 5 years.

Then I received emails asking how we did it, along with readers who were brave enough to say, “We’re struggling right now.  Thanks for letting us know there’s hope.”

I was quite surprised by it all.  When I was writing that post, it wasn’t  my intention or focus to talk much about our financial crisis….it was just a detail of our story.  In all those years we were wading through our hard times, I had thought about sharing some of my thoughts on the blog.  But I never could.  I cowered under my shame.

As I said on my 2013 post, I now feel like we’re standing on top of the mountain.  We’ve hit a turning point.  Heaven knows owning your own business (two in our case) isn’t ever a guarantee, but if no more catastrophes strike (which, I suppose, is life), we WILL be debt free in five years, house and all. {Puh-lease, my ’95 Subaru, hold on for a couple more years!!!}

I am proud of what we’ve done.

That made me start to wonder if it was time to share our story.  At the end of last year, I switched Tuesday’s posts to “inspirational” subjects.  If I’ve had growing/turning points, wouldn’t someone else find value in them as well?  With our financial journey, it has been one of the biggest areas of growth I’ve ever had. I’ve lived through it.  The subject matter wouldn’t be regurgitated quotes or something.  It would be…..real.

I still hesitated.  I’m a quiet, reserved person that is good at being stoic. I like to keep emotions and events under a veil.

But I thought about those who wrote to me.  What kind of person would I be if I could help them, and didn’t?

The universe kept sending me little messages.

My brother and sister-in-law shared a TED talk with me a few months ago that I have now listened to many times over.  Brene Brown’s talk on vulnerability is very powerful.  Take the link over and watch it.  I think you’ll find some life-changing insights.  I know it’s helped me tremendously.

I kept feeling tugs.  The final straw was when I saw this quote on Marie Forleo’s Facebook page:

I surrendered. Sometimes it’s your calling.

Part of me is still a little hesitant.  I won’t be sharing every detail, but I’ve decided I would post each Tuesday on this subject until the topic runs out.  Each post will be about my biggest learning moments.  I hope it will give others ideas on how they can change their lives financially.

I’m not a money coach.  I don’t have a degree in accounting or any panacea for all that may be making you financially sick (ha, I just learned that word a few weeks ago!  It means “a medicine that can cure multiple diseases…a kind of one trick fix for everything”).  But if you know that, I think you’ll know that you can do it too.  There’s no genius to it.  It’s all about setting priorities, changing your heart,  making a plan, and persistence.

I know that I don’t want to “survive” my whole life.  I don’t want to sit back and wait for “the ship to come in.”

I do want to change my family tree.  I want to vacation and do philanthropic work. I want my kids to learn to work, but I also want to know I can help them if the need comes.  I don’t want them to have to worry about how to take care of me when I’m old.

What I do, and you do today, matters.

So, the journey begins.  Next week I’ll give you a little background on what made us stumble, and the first step we needed to take to turn back in the right direction.