Happiness is Now

Happiness is Now

Please turn off your cell phone before reading this blog. Be considerate of other readers as they try to get through this complex narrative. Nothing is worse than that customized ring tone of “I Ain’t Got Nobody” disturbing the otherwise peaceful tranquility of reading. If you are driving, why are you reading this to begin with and you should definitely not have anything to do with a phone at this point. You’re probably the guy swerving in front of me as I hammer this out on my iPhone’s keyboard at the traffic light.

Well, it has been an interesting week. Last week was a sort of “break week” from P90X’s regular hard core fitness routines so I was actually standing up straight for the first time in three weeks. I was doing “easy” things like stretching and the yoga that I’ve come to know and love. I also got Hip Hop Abs which is so much fun I can hardly believe it counts. We’ll see if the six pack emerges from all this. I am now onto my second 30 days and it has become a family affair. We all gather around the TV at night and sweat until we are delirious. I especially love seeing my 15 year old waking up from his Xbox coma to MOVE!!!! One thing is for certain, Beachbody has changed our lives.

Last week I also went out with my girlfriends to see John Corbett of “Northern Exposure,” “My Big Fat Greek Wedding” and “Sex in the City” fame. He has a honky tonk band that tours and he played in our beloved Harold’s in Cave Creek. We had our usual good time and managed to stay until the very end and stick around to meet Mr. Laid Back himself. He isn’t quite like his usual stereo typed characters – but he has a touch of that mellowness with a little scatter brain built in – at least that was my 3 hour opinion of him. Bo Derek, who is his love, can write to me and disagree if I am wrong.

So I want to talk to you about my Dave Ramsey class last night. It was a really good topic….BUYING stuff. He talked about how often we trade in our security tomorrow for what we perceive as something we NEED right now. An interesting example he used was there was a young man who was rather successful in real estate in the 80’s and had some extra cash to use for a new Mercedes which was his dream car. The story goes that when the guy went down to the Mercedes dealer he thought long and hard about the opportunity cost of the car. For the $40,000 it would cost him to buy his dream car that would depreciate the minute he drove it off the lot, after doing some quick math, he realized that if he took that same money and put it in a mutual fund, after 20 years he would have over $300,000. He decided not to buy the car.

I really liked that story because it showed that if we think things through a little better, we can make so many wiser choices in our lives and set up our futures in a manner that will allow us to do so many things we would enjoy in our older years. As Dave always says, “if you live like no one else, LATER, you can live like no one else.”

But there was one other VERY important piece to the lesson yesterday that stuck with me. Dave was saying how we always think we will be happy when….(fill in the blank). How often have I thought that through. I will be happy when the baby is more independent. I will be happy when I make more money. I will be happy when I have furniture. Whatever it was I was always looking past today. Dave Ramsey really hit home when he said “Happiness is NOW.” If we always look to another day, to more STUFF, to a different situation for our happiness, we will never enjoy the reality that we have so much to be grateful for and happy with today. Time flies whether we’re having fun or not my friends.

So take stock folks. This isn’t a dress rehearsal. If you’re not having some joy in your life you need to find some – fast. If you want to get in shape, call me or write to me at fitnessempress@yahoo.com, I can help! If you want to get your finances in order, go to Dave Ramsey’s website and find a local class, I can’t tell you how much it is helping me and thus my family. If you are lonely or bored, go on Meetup.com to find some groups that do the things you enjoy like hiking, wine tasting, political events, book clubs – whatever you enjoy it is there. And there are so many things you can do that won’t cost a dime.

I came home from class last night and looked at my baby girl who…well – she really isn’t a baby any more. Next month she will be four. Wow did that go fast. She immediately wanted me to hold her and rub her back as she fell asleep. I thought about my lesson. I didn’t need to watch TV. I didn’t need to read a book. Looking at Ashley, my precious little girl drift off in my arms into a peaceful slumber, you bet, happiness is now.

Until next time,
Empress OUT!

www.fitnessempress.com
www.shakeempress.com

Put Your Money Where Your Mouth Is

You can tell a lot about someone from their blogs. For example, from reading MY blog you can tell I am a witty, intelligent albeit perhaps slightly flabby girl that is oh so publishable. From someone else’s blog, you might be able to infer that he or she is a communist as my aunt discovered about her daughter’s boyfriend when reading his blog.

What is it about our youth that makes them want to forget the roots upon which this great country was founded? Why on earth has capitalism become a bad word to so many people? I think in some respects, it comes from our upbringing of “sharing”. We are told all throughout our young lives to share. “Now Shelley you should SHARE your Celebration Barbie with Pam.” And that is all well and good. Then we become young adults and we don’t have much when we are starting out so we think…”sure, I’ll share my Kraft Macaroni and Cheese with you.” At that point in our lives we all have friends who are equally living lean and mean off raman noodles. We think that everyone deserves a fair chance at success which they do.

What some of us fail to realize as we get older is that while we all deserve a CHANCE at success, we don’t all deserve SUCCESS. Do you understand the difference between deserving a fair chance at success and actually achieving success? Some of us get there and some of us don’t. What is the difference? Hard work. Perseverance. Sometimes, just a bit of good luck too.

Knowing we’ve done all we could on any given day to be a productive member of society, to achieve our goals during our lifetime and to be a good person is all we have right now.
It isn’t enough to WANT things. It isn’t enough to think you have goals or dreams. If all you do is think about what you want to achieve in life, I don’t care how much of “The Secret” you read, you aren’t going to reach those goals. You must work hard and you must work hard right now and for many years to come.

I know a lot of people and I mean a LOT of people who are down and out right now. They have BEEN working hard and fallen on some really rotten times, some of which have been beyond their control. But none of us is guaranteed success without bumps in the road. Many extreme success stories come from people like Dave Ramsey who were very wealthy and lost it all only to come back bigger and more successful than he was before. We can only learn some hard lessons from our mistakes and pick ourselves up and start again. We have to work harder, leaner, tougher and wiser. Don’t wallow; you don’t have time for self-pity. Don’t be resentful, precious moments tick away while you feel that anger. Just put the blinders on and look straight ahead remembering the lessons from what roads are behind you now.

Make more mistakes. Remember with each mistake, you get closer to the idea that works. With each failure, you get closer to the success you want to achieve. Don’t be afraid of the chances you take that don’t work out, keep taking them, working harder and harder until one day you will see that you found the right formula for you. Remember too that your formula might work today, but not tomorrow so always reevaluate your strategies.

Be aware of your shortcoming and take steps each day to fix them. That is what I like to call putting your money where your mouth is. Don’t just talk about it. DO IT. Don’t give me excuses, give me action. Believe me, I’m talking to myself too. So open up the books and do an inventory. Look at where you put your time, resources, and money. You can tell a lot about why things are happening for you or not happening for you by honestly evaluating these things. Where is your money? No….don’t tell me…SHOW me. Put your money where your mouth is.

Empress Out.


www.fitnessempress.com
www.shakeempress.com
BRING IT!