January 2009: The GOYA Plan
I have a new plan for change and hope in 2009. It’s called GOYA: Get Off Your A**.
You’ve heard a lot lately about hope and change; in the economy, in our country, and in the world. Call me cynical, but I don’t buy it. Not yet anyway.
Don’t get me wrong, I wish President Obama all the best. He’s got a tough job ahead, and people’s expectations are high, too high in some cases. The whole thing is, what are YOU AND I doing personally to bring about change and hope we’d like to see in our lives? Why should the responsibility rest on President Obama?
Here’s the deal. I don’t blame George Bush, the Republicans, Democrats, the Governator or any other politician for my current financial status, state of health, or state of being. Things happen in the world over which they have no control, and they must make decisions as they see fit. We can’t control what they do, but we are 100% in control of how we deal with what life gives us.
There’s an old German word that sums up my entrie philosophy here: Kwitcherbichen!
I’ve made some less than informed financial decisions in my lifetime, but I haven’t had the option of getting a government bailout. Guess what? I paid them off! My husband and I lost money during the current fall off in the market, but guess what? We’ve found extra work to help cover the shortfall, and we’re cutting back on non-essentials.
I’ve had 6 children, and I haven’t had anything lifted, tucked or liposuctioned. I also haven’t laid around like 3rd base feeling sorry for myself. I got up and exercised, ate right, and taught my kids to do the same.
I dropped out of college, had a string of jobs that did not challenge me intellectually or pay me what I was worth. So I studied on my own, started writing, got out into the community and the internet and found a number of new ways to monetize doing what I love. It didn’t happen overnight, but you know what, it rocks! People helped me along the way, but they didn’t do it for me, and I didn’t expect them to.
Life isn’t going to be perfect, and you’re not going to have it all. But you can get really close to it. Enjoy your family, take a class, learn to do something that speaks to you personally. Get out of your comfort zone, meet some new people, read books and travel, if only to the next town. Think before you spend, and give a few bucks to people or organizations who need a hand. Not because they expect it, but because it’s the right thing to do. Share your time, talent and treasure.
Do whatever it takes to BE THE CHANGE in your own life, because no one else can do it for you.
GOYA, Baby!
