Bummed Out... Focus on 2020 Vision

Brad Paisley has a killer song out called "Letter To Me" where he writes a letter to himself at 17. He tells his young self it's not the end, now that he's been dumped by his girlfriend. Oh, and be sure to fill up the tank for your date with Bridgett... "on second thought that one turns out all right". Be sure and thank Mrs. Bringham for seeing the rough diamond underneath and polishing you til you shined. It's a tear jerker, for sure.

But his capper is the best part.. wait til you see you wife and kids.. you wont believe how great they are. These are nowhere near the best years of your life!

Now zap the message into our lives today. The economic situation we're in is only for today. It's temporary. It's just the crap we're going thru for now. We have great years ahead. We will look back on what we are going thru today and realized how much we learned.

* Our kids were able to learn that easy money doesn't last
* Prices don't go up forever and maybe our home is not an investment... it's our HOME.
* That you should consider ALL variables when you make a big decision, (like that you may not be able to refi when the ARM adjusts)
* We've learned to love board games and Family Friday Nights
* We've learned to be OK without our nails done (have you looked at a group of business women lately... plain nails!)
* We've learned it's pretty fun to go to Lake Tahoe instead of Hawaii on vacation... or to stay home and chill.
*We've learned to be open about our finances... which is unbelievable... that's good!
*We've learned to live within a budget... maybe we CAN clean our own pool.
*We've looked at our "conspicuous consumption" and questioned the "stuff" we've bought... who can believe what we have accumulated... mostly that we didn't need. And look where it's gotten us.

Fast forward to the year 2020. Do you think you will be looking at the same crap as today? Heck, no! It will be different! Things will change. You will have new grandkids, new spouses (if you are married and said "yay"... slap yourself), different jobs, different joys, new challenges, new talents you discovered, and a whole new and exciting world to discover. What we're facing today, is just for today.

So buck up, deal with it, and don't take it all so seriously. And go download Brad Paisley's "Letter to Me" on iTunes... it's only 99 cents. Then write yourself a letter from yourself in 2020 about how this stuff won't last. It's nowhere near the best years of our lives.

Flickr Photos by a.drian, dotbenjamin, zpinkster