Welcome to My Life

Reviewing 2013: Question 1 - Worrying about Money

Do you worry about money or the lack of it?
from "Spiritual Newsletter (December 28, 2005)" 

Yes I worry about money and that worry has an affect on my accomplishments because when I worry I have a tendency to withdraw into my fantasies. No facing the issues does not help me solve it and may very well make matters worse. because it prevents me from taking the steps necessary to find a solution or to ask for help. The question I have to ask myself now is "What can I do to overcome the worry, stop fantasizing, and solve the problem of lack of money?

I find that if I sit down and say a prayer when I start to worry then it helps because once I put the problem is God's hands then it is easier for me to focus on finding a solution. The problem I sometimes encounter is my mind randomly and inadvertently wandering off into daydreams or worry when I am involved in a physical rather then a mental activity.

A 10, 15, or 20 minute free write will sometimes help me find a solution to the worry and money problems confronting me. When I free write I put words, sentences, and paragraphs in a document without consciously thinking about what I am writing. I have noticed that when I free write, I tend to go back and attempt to spell words correctly when the document shows they are misspelled. This interferes with and slows down the free write, so that I do not always accomplish what I set out to do at the beginning, which was to find a solution to my problem. In stead of using a computer program during a free write session, I may have to go back to the pen and paper journal and then copy the material into a document to check the spelling and grammar. This would prevent me from going back in the document to correct things before my free write timer sounds.

One way to earn a little extra money is to sell aluminum cans. Since I purchase my soda in aluminum cans rather then plastic bottles, I can save the cans, put them in trash bags, and take them to the recycling station when I get a trunk full of filled bags.

Do online surveys that pay in points (so many points earns cash) or cash. This may not earn me a lot of money, but it may earn me enough to purchase gas for the car or pay for my meds. If I can earn enough to pay for one or both of those things then I can use the money in my checking account for something else such a paying bills.

Go to food pantries or kitchens that give food to senior citizens and others on fixed incomes. This will help with my food budget for the month; true there are other things I need to purchase at a grocery store besides food, but I can use coupons for many of those.

Submit stories and poems to online or off line magazines. I am not sure how much I can earn, but every little bit helps and this will keep me writing rather then worrying.

Find a senior apartment where the power, gas, and water are included in the rent.

Keep the thermostat as low as the computers and I can stand it in winter or as high as we can stand it in summer.

Thought of the Day: “If a problem is fixable, if a situation is such that you can do something about it, then there is no need to worry. If it's not fixable, then there is no help in worrying. There is no benefit in worrying whatsoever.” - Dalai Lama XIV