Money With Laughter And Praise

A new year, old habits, high hopes and low resources- what to do with your money this year?  Laugh. I know you are supposed to buy file folders. Make order. I say laugh and praise yourself.

Laugh. Laughter is the sweet energizer, the safest painkiller, the best organizer.

Praise your stick-to-it-ness- you made it to this new year; whether you are reading this on January first or July 14th-you can reckon a new year from any day.

So when you look at credit card balances that you cannot pay off this month or the next, or the next..., slap your thigh and laugh, saying, "I am royal and don't even know it. I must be because I am living way bigger than my income. Just how royal am I?  How much would I need to make a month to pay this off as if it were just like my small phone bill? What kind of job would bring in that kind of income?"

Now you are tapping your imagination.  You are asking, "Whose life am I living?  Who am I impersonating? Could I work at a better paying job?"

You haven't died of last year's money mistakes. You are still here and can laugh about your messy situation. This is healthy.

If you can't laugh about it, you might shame yourself into paralysis and freeze up. You might stop thinking creatively about how to get out of the mess you are in. If you can't laugh, you might become secretive and hide the truth from others, and refuse to ask for help.  If you can't laugh, you might continue in a downward spiral of more and more spending and bigger and bigger debt until you hit bankruptcy or homelessness.

If you can't laugh at your mistakes and weak decisions, you might think that you yourself are laughable. You are not. Each of us makes a range of decisions from brilliant to "what could I have been thinking!"

Laughter does not mean debt is good.  Laughter means you are gaining some perspective on your habits. Praise means you acknowledge that you did something right to get from one day to the next, from one year to the next.

There are tons of anxiety producing, well-intentioned and smart articles about how to get your finances in order.  They are worth reading after you get a hold of yourself. You spent the money- whether it was for luxuries or necessities. You signed a credit card slip that says you agree to pay what was charged, but that legal formality was just the gateway for your head or heart to get the stuff it wanted so urgently at the time. You got it. You did it. You regret it.

Now restore yourself with laughter so you can begin with a lighter heart, more air in your lungs, and the recognition of what went wrong, what can go better. Praise your resilience and praise those who helped you get by. Catch yourself laughing when you recognize an old trap or temptation, and praise yourself as you avoid it and make a better money decision. Start again and succeed little by little, day by day.