"It's a funny thing about life; if you refuse to accept
anything but the best, you very often get it."
Sarah starts today with
"It's far easier to live an elegant, beautiful life when you're not on a budget."
Amen sister. Amen.
"When cash is readily available, you don't have to learn the lessons that delayed gratification teaches us."
A few of those lessons that I've learned from delayed gratification are; that I really didn't need it even though at the time (and maybe at this present moment) I really wanted it, and that more often than not if I wait I find something better (and a whole lot cheaper) because I kept my eyes open for the right things.
"But having money does not guarantee that we live authentically."
Amen! Before I started really trying to live on my budget I would go thrift store shopping and spend $20 or more and just pick up whatever I liked...You would not believe how much of that stuff that I either swapped or donated back. A couple years ago this was a bad habit, I would feel the need to shop, go, buy some stuff I kind of liked, and then still feel empty and unsatisfied.
If I had a lot of money, I still probably wouldn't spend it...now anyways. A couple years ago sure, but now, now I know differently.
"Nor does being surrounded by beautiful things guarantee a lifetime of happiness. If you receive heartbreaking news, it's not more comforting to sob into a damask and silk-tasseled cushion."
Sarah then goes on to talk about how she had withdrawals from shopping and from the world when she was weaning herself off. She had physical withdrawal symptoms! And I was like, oh good, I'm not the only one.
"When this occurred, my authentic self would reassure my conscious self (who didn't think much of the new program) that I was undergoing a deep inner shift in reality. I was learning to differentiate between my needs and my wants...I had to learn what I could live without. Whatever I needed I could budget for...
When you learn what you can live without, you are able to ask life for the very best because you possess the gift of discernment. You develop patience that enables you to wait gracefully and gratefully until the best arrives because you know it will. You are able to create an authentic life for yourself and those you love because you are able to make conscious choices."
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Gratitude Journal
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1) Rainy days. I had a really bad day today. Missing my sister a lot, and the kids hitting and biting and screaming and crying and yelling and nothing I did made it any better......The rain fit my mood. If it was sunny I would have been mad at the weather too.
2) Flowers. Everything reminds me of my sister. The flowers, painting my nails, singing in the car, watching a movie...just going through the day, sometimes it just hurts.
3) Sandwiches. My kids ate oranges and sandwiches for dinner, and they were fine with that. Robbie picked us up something to eat after they went down. I just couldn't make a meal, and everyone was fine. The world didn't end.
4) Sleeping babies. They are the cutest when they sleep.
5) Riley. She was the cutest little thing today, and would just come up to me, crawl into my lap, give me this huge cuddle and hug, and then take my face in her little hands and lean in for a kiss with her little puckered lips again and again and again...God gives you little girls so your momma can say "I told you so" and so that they can be little angels when you need one.
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