Comments on: Relax, Breathe, It’ll be Fine

By: Jean L

Jean L — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 18:34:38 +0000

Hubby lost his job at the end of January. That sucked, but because we had started the budget sheet and the jars at the end of December, we knew exactly what we could live on. We calculated what his portion of the monthly finances would need to be, and we took the remainder of his severance and put it to debt and are now consumer debt free. We only have his student loans and a budget that can support us for a very long time. For a couple that has been mired in debt for 8 years, this is so exciting!

Yes, life can suck, but when you look at the opportunities that are made out of difficult times, there can be some great things available to us. I’m excited about the future.

By: angela

angela — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 16:11:53 +0000

Happy Birthday Diana!!!!

By: diana

diana — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 15:13:53 +0000

the morning i turned 50 (4 yrs ago) i woke up laughing.
this was a change from the decade i spent living with an enternal knot in my stomach due in large part to a failing marriage and wiped out finances. (that’s a whole other story)….

but, on that birthday morning, it finally hit me that life was pretty good after all because i had what truly mattered.

By: angela

angela — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 06:22:43 +0000

GAIL!

I just wanted to let you know that I think your awesome. I love how blunt you are on your show and just say it as it is. I wish i could be more like that sometimes. Whats the point on walking around the issue that gets you nowhere.

Thanks for being you!

By: AliG

AliG — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 04:06:37 +0000

I like this post, K.I.S.S Keep it simple stupid! Too much focus on the negative can really get to you.

Just a few minutes ago, found out that there has been some drama at my work. I only work there two days a week and they can still manage to talk about me. The one girl is my friend and tells me things that the others are saying. Coming from a very negative place, finding out that I am being stabbed to reading this post, is a very drastic change.

Don’t worry about the stress. In the end, everyone is just trying to live their life to the best of their ability. Can anyone be blamed?

By: Pol*

Pol* — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 01:21:44 +0000

A friend of mine just reminded me….
“DON’T PANIC”
(and remember your towel)

*in case you don’t know the reference I recommend Hitchiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams. A great laugh and stress reliever!!!! (READ IT, so much more fun than the movie)

By: Julie

Julie — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 01:16:49 +0000

When I think about the economy tanking I think of my sweet granny who – like most of our grannies – lived through the great depression. Perhaps it is their advanced age now, but her generation seems to embody values and the appreciation of little things that we’ve largely lost in this culture. If the economy worsens, perhaps despite short-term pain we might be better for it. We might rediscover many of the real joys of life instead of this mad chase for more money, more power and more stuff. We might be forced to do more with less which will be good for our waistlines, our long term financial health and our environment. We might wake up a little bit more to the beauty that surrounds us – the kindness of people, birds singing and children playing. We might think a little more about how other people in the world live and that 35,000 children a day die of hunger-related illnesses on this planet. Every day. Adversity can bring out the best in people. It spurs innovation and striving can bring great joy.

By: Amber

Amber — Sat, 07 Mar 2009 00:31:37 +0000

“Start focusing on your own experience, and never mind the crap happening around you.”

This is exactly what I’m trying to do. I’ve noticed I’m a lot happier since I gave up my TV and I don’t know how ‘bad’ things are anymore. Really, truly, I think the worst thing to do is panic. Right now I’m fine, so I will also keep on keepin’ on.

By: Tara

Tara — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 21:41:37 +0000

Sage advice – I’ve cut way back on watching the news, and haven’t opened a retirement portfolio statement in months. With 20 more years to work, I can ride it out and refuse to get upset about it. I am focusing on the joy of playing with my dogs and petting my cats and holding hands with my husband. It’s all free and very soothing.

By: Suzanne

Suzanne — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 19:18:26 +0000

When I hear someone say “Life sucks”, I remind them that it is better than the alternative, cuz that’s permanent!! Just like Saskatchewan weather, wait five minutes, it’ll change. I don’t watch the news, unless it is on in the staff room. I prefer to focus on my circle of family and friends. And there are so many ways to celebrate what we do have. Just yesterday, Thursday, I cooked a turkey, with all the trimmings, and had my mother, niece and her babies, nephew and his fiance over for grub. Just us, small family gathering, and a huge turkey! I wanted to celebrate my niece escaping from her abusive husband, (another province) and make her feel special/welcome in her new city. Yesterday just happened to be my “Sunday”. Life throws curve balls, it’s all in how we respond to them that separates the ducks (paddling calmly on the surface) from the chickens (the sky is falling!) As some of the others have posted, staying focused to the budgeting process, foregoing frivolous ‘vacations’, or other such wants, will keep us headed in the right direction – financial peace.

By: Melaniesd

Melaniesd — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:42:38 +0000

Sometimes I think the best thing to do is to just turn the TV off.
The news is so negative. It doesn’t help to have a husband who is rather “half empty”.

Colleen, I hope you & your husband get some good news. I have a feeling you’ll pull through just fine either way. **sending good vibes your way**

I’m just trying to focus on simplifying life a little, spending less, saving more and slowing picking away at my debt. If I focus on all the negatives I’ll drive myself batty!

Dinah, thank you for sharing your story. You are so right. We have so much to be thankful for.

Kate: Congratulations on your upcoming nuptials. I always wondered what the Jewish tradition of breaking glass was all about. I love your view on it.

Off to exercise so I can get some happy endorphines flowing!

By: Goal "0" Debt

Goal "0" Debt — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:41:12 +0000

@ Colleen from Cambridge… Good Luck Today. You sound like you have a good head on your shoulders.

By: Maureen

Maureen — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 18:35:55 +0000

Because I have spent so much time alone at home over these past two years I have become a news whore. Any time, any place and I’m up for it. The problem is that it really used to bring me down. Is there ever any good news? In fact it is recommended by many doctors that you stop watching the news to de-stress because the distress of others leads to more stress in your life.

I tried turning it off – even had the Hubster wipe the news channels off of the remote so that I couldn’t click on to them – but not knowing drove me nuts. A conundrum since the knowing also drove me nuts.

Last year I discovered something. It isn’t the news itself that was stressing me out but the fact that what I was watching was so repetitious and one sided.

There is a show I watch about animals on the French channel (30 Million of Our Friends) and one day I just happened to keep watching when the Swiss news came on. I was stunned to hear their version of the events that I had just watched on CTV and CBC. All sorts of new facts and different opinions about the same stories and a whole bunch of new stories that were not aired on our news. Wow. Got me to wondering what the real agenda was with all the news networks. Shouldn’t facts be facts? Shouldn’t an important story that happens in the Sudan be reported all over the world? And shouldn’t it be the story and nothing but the whole story?

Anyways, I now watch less news but when a story interests me I watch the Canadian news (both Anglo and Franco and there is a case where 3 channels can have 4 different reports), the American news (cable and network), the Swiss, French and Belgium news and the BBC. Instead of being driven completely round the bend by information overload I am much less stressed. I think it is the balance.

Just to let you know – as far as the financial news goes you can stop worrying about whether or not you should believe what you hear. All chanels and countries are reporting that we are screwed.

By: edgarella

edgarella — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:57:30 +0000

For those in the Toronto area – want a free pick me up?

Go Outside!

Savour the stupendous joy of not minus 27 degrees with a wind chill factor of minus a kazillion…

Yahoo!

By: Pol*

Pol* — Fri, 06 Mar 2009 17:30:47 +0000

I have friends and family losing jobs, their relationships strained to the breaking point, the stress seems a mountain as big as Everest and impossible to take in all at once…..
All I can recommend is that they count their blessings and try to approach the change with some hope that their good sense and good hearts will see them through to the other side.
On a brighter note, it is a cycle, it will curve away from us as it cruved towards us. I blip in history, a tiny moment that is only what we make of it.
I love that Gail has said that we need to take this opportunity to embrace what we have and enjoy the free things we can do that make us feel good…. helping others, embracing our human connections in a meaningful way.