Another Morning

So this is my public declaration!!!

I am going on a spending fast in the year 2014. This means I will be spending money only on my needs and cutting out any extra expenses. My goal is to be debt free by mid way through the year. I’m already so close, right now I’m just catering to high interest rates. Once that happens, I plan on using the money I save by only spending on needs and building a strong savings account to put towards finishing graduate school. It’s a pretty drastic decision because The Spending Fast doesn’t even allow you to spend money on things like clothes (learning to sew). If all goes well, I may even be able to pay off my student loan in the next 15 months.

It also doesn’t allow me to spend money on things like gifts, so everyone will be receiving arts and crafts from me this year. I make some pretty awesome collages, so don’t worry.

I’m just making a public declaration so everyone is sympathetic when I ask you to come over and hang out at my apartment instead of going out to the bar, club or movies. Besides there are plenty of fun things to do in Rochester for free. If you think they’re aren’t, hit me up and I’ll give you a tour.

If going on a spending fast sounds like a good thing to do for yourself this year as well, or if you want to know what the heck I’m talking about, read more about it here:

Looking back over the past two years, I have realized that each year has been a representation of the three things we discuss all the time at my congregation Spark of Divinity: I am, I can, I will. It is our mantra for life, a chant that keeps us going in times of doubt. We are all divine creatures and these three affirmations are the things that help us become not only the humans that we wish to be, living a life that we take pride in, but also the three things that bring us closer to the divine source.

2012 was the year I learned who I was and stopped being what I thought I had to be for everyone else. I came to terms with many of my faults, embraced my strengths and realized my abilities. I ended a relationship that had gone on for more than a quarter of my life and found infinite happiness that I did not know I could have. It was the year of I am.

2013 was an amazing year. I fell in love with someone who is so much more suited to my needs. He makes me feel whole. I was promoted to a management position at work and I realized my abilities as a leader. I was accepted to graduate school and discovered strengths I did not know I had. I took on the unexpected responsibilities as a co-parent and realized that I have the ability to make a difference in a child’s life. I took control of my health. It was the year of I can.

2014 will be the year of I will. This is the year that I stop planning, stop realizing, and start doing. This is the year that my writing is put into action, my connections are put to good use and I finally get all the loose ends in my life tied together like finances and home management.

With these three simple words and in these three simple years I have discovered more about myself then I ever dreamed possible and transformed myself in ways I could not imagine. I appreciate everything the past two years has brought me and I look forward to 2014 and all the adventures and action that await.

This blog is one of the many expressions of that affirmation. Welcome.