Cost of Living

Dear Friends:

Over this past few weeks I have been sprucing up my home by painting and cleaning. I have posted all along mentioning my adventures and my discoveries. I have a good life. I have good solid assets. My house for one, a reliable car, good furniture and dependable appliances. I follow the belief that if I "take good care of my assets, my assets will take care of me" so to speak.  Investing in quality has proven that to me over time.  If I buy that needed item and know I will need it for years to come, then cost may not totally be a factor.  There are few really great things that are cheap. Sometimes its better to hire a professional to do the work and other times I can do the work.  Like painting or cleaning.
The things I do are in a certain order and done from start to finish before starting another project.  This saves me from wasting money on items that I think I might need and will never use, save me time and effort because there is a specific start and end, and it keeps me from feeling stressed out by the unfinished mess in my home.  I have great discipline when it comes to projects and time management.  Skills I learned when I owned my own business.  I do not like unfinished things like business with a person, big projects, and so on.  I personally find it appealing to see the completed job so I can then make changes or sit back and reap the rewards.

All the things we do to protect our assets and still the cost of living keeps going up yet somehow we still continue on living life and making our dollars stretch. With rising costs in, well, everything taking care of my home and saving for my future have become more of a challenge than before. Its funny I heard my parents saying this same things in the 70's and 80's.  Still I am surprised at the low wages being paid and rising cost of so many of our everyday necessities.  It seems that everyday I hear of companies eliminating jobs and squeezing the existing workers to do multiple jobs under one job title.
Well, because of constant uncertainty in my earnings level, I have learned how to "play the rules".  Not break the law or get government handouts. Just play the rules. To clarify I will attempt to journal what I buy, what is deductible and what I can make myself.  I can deduct certain things from my taxes like medicines as we all know but did you know it is not limited to medicine?  Medical expenses are not just doctor visits and RX, Its the miles traveled to get such medical attention, (medical milage) and the out of pocket expenses you incur as a result of the diagnosis, like bandages, alcohol and, medication not covered by insurance and so forth.  In the following posts, I will show you just how much you can save if you know how. This is what I am talking about.  I don't presume to know everything, but I have a clue and am I always open to learning more.

Keeping it simple.

Peace,
Suz

Before you hire that painter read this

Good Morning:

I have been working on my home for several weeks now.  We are cleaning and purging what we don't want. This all started when I decided to make our lives more comfortable and relaxed. Along with cleaning I decided we need to paint our moldings in the house. Looking to hire a painter and exploring the cost vs. my time, I decided I could paint the interior trim one room at a time. I bought paint and planned to go over all the trim room by room. While cleaning the bathroom floor today I was thinking while cleaning like I always do (It's kind of like meditation for me) my mind wandered to a line in the film Bruce Almighty where Morgan Freeman (who plays God beautifully) says to Bruce (played by Jim Carey) "life can be messy, but you can always clean it up".  While on my hands and knees cleaning the floor I wiped over the moulding with my sponge revealing fresh white paint. I thought it was chipped paint but turns out dusting I do didn't remove all the dirt. I did all the trim in the bathroom with vinegar and water solution which I mixed with citrus cleaner, and the moulding looks new.  Whoever painted my bathroom used high gloss oil based paint and it really has held up. I'm scrubbing down all the trim now in the house noticing only some areas need painting. This is saving my self a lot of work, and money. I can return some of the paint which I never opened, and I feel content with the job being completed.  Well almost. I still have some trim to paint that is in fact chipped but it's only one or two areas!

Peace and Joy to all
Suz

Watts the matter?

Hello All,

I wanted to tell you of my recent discovery regarding outdoor lighting. After Hurricane Sandy here in NJ, we were left without light for about 10 days. As a result I realized how dark the night is. We have a dark road compared to other areas in our county, but this time it was totally dark. No house lights, no street lights, no light pollution from the highway. Total darkness. I had battery operated lights but really wondered what I would do if I intact had run out of batteries and could not get them. Especially since people were buying them up left and right because we had mass power outages.  That experience taught me to think about a lot of things before the next disaster. Food cooking and light.  No I did not buy a generator. Nor did I  stock up on batteries. I had a crank radio that we cranked up to listen to the radio reports about what was going on. Since there was little to no communication available.  Then I realized the radio was also solar powered. ( that radio in a bit)   Remembering those tacky solar power, very dim, lights people place along their exterior path ways made me think about getting some. But what was the cost? After all they are dim and not bright at all. Well a little looking after the power came back on, and I found solar powered lights that were quite bright. 12 Lumens in fact!  Yes LED (Light emitting diode for those who do not know and call them led lights) stick in the ground path way or spot lights. They are completely solar powered and positionable. I bought a few to see how they worked. They stay on almost all night with total brightness after being fully charged.  I have been up early a few times and see that they have gotten dim by around 4 am. All in all they really are nice. 

I am always trying to reduce or eliminate my energy usage because of the cost, so I found new ways of using these lights to benefit me if I need in the future. First things first. I DID NOT place them along my pathway like some kind of landing strip to guide planes to. I am cheap but have some sort of taste, hopefully good.  I placed three in the front yard:

-One was placed by the mail box to light my walk way. Remember it is movable so I aimed it at the steps and the walk way and it looks great.  

-I positioned the second in the garden aimed down the other path to the rear door.  Fantastic!  

-The third light lights up the full front of the house so none will be able to trip and fall going from front to back. 

They look like professional lights on the house (how Jersey) and do a great job at illuminating my walk ways. I loved them so much I bought 4 more to light the back patio.  I also positioned them in the gardens to aim on the walking area and give the whole place a lit, bright, welcoming feel.  

These light do not necessarily have to be stuck in the ground as utilitarian lights like they are intended.  Get creative and you'll find other uses for them.

1. Buy the fancy ones and place 5 or 7 of them in a bucket or planter pot to make a bouquet table light. 

2. Add flowers or a potted plant and you have a lighted party planter to enjoy year round. 

3. Bring them inside to make a funny cute light bouquet in the house when the power goes out or to illuminate a dark stairwell.  

They need sun or daylight to charge fully so remember to bring it back out they next day to recharge. The cost savings will add up.  Last night we were outside and I felt happy with the way the house looked and was proud of my small investment that saves me big.  To check out my savings, I found a website that estimates our cost per kilowatt hour in cents and for NJ it was 15.93 cents per kWh.  Check it out on line at [http://www.wikihow.com/Calculate-Kilowatts-Used-by-Light-Bulbs]  for the amount you will use or just look on the back of a light bulb package. In terms of LED light bulbs, 40 watts is 450 lumens, so buying LED bulbs will take a little education.  I figure I save about $40 per year just leaving off two bulbs one in front and one in back.  Not a lot of money but every little bit ads up and these look so cool.  I am investigating other solar powered things on line an have found so many cool toys. But like anything my frugal sense stops me from buy gadgets I really don't need. What I did buy, the other family members are using and loving. And they are of course EATING THEIR WORDS about how ridiculous I was buying "stupid" stuff.  They can also eat their words in the dark if so needed. lol.  

Love to all.

Suz

for information on where I purchase my items, write to suztheadvicelady@gmail.com :)

My Metal Recycling

Good Morning!

I have been busy growing my vegetable garden which is coming along nicely, and clearing out the old in my home to make room for the new. It feels good to dispose of items that, for some reason, we hang on to, but never use. I am not sure why we keep stuff, but, well, I cleaned house. Both mentally and physically.  I got together all the junk I did not want. Over a week of cleaning, and organizing then suddenly the fridge in the music studio dies.  "NO!" No running motor, not getting cold,  but the light is on. DANG! Well now what? Brainstorm.... I said to my Tom, "Let's see if some one will come take it." So we went to Freecycle.org to find a person wanting some old appliances. As we did so Tom says "Call Blewett's." (**a local metal scrap yard)  I replied, "They don't take refrigerators, only clean metal."  So, Tom called a man who advertised that he takes old refrigerators and other appliances. Well just as he was talking on the phone to that person,  it occurred to me that Tom is most likely right and that we should call the scrap metal place to see if they do in fact take refrigerators. Guess what?  They Do! "Any metal" said the lady at the scrap recycling place.
$$ Kaching! $$.  So, here we go!  We are looking around the house and yard to make this trip worth every penny. We stuff the old fridge in the van and our neighbor comes to help. (We love Fred and all our neighbors. Salt of the earth they are.  God blessed us with these neighbors.)  So Fred says "What are you doing with this?" "It's broke" we said. "we are taking it to Blewett's." Fred replies, "So now you will have "beer" money." "I also have aluminum chairs you can take if they can fit."  We laughed at the reference to the amount of money we will likely make from our "scrap metal".  As it turns out, I have lots of scrap. No kidding!  I found old metal pipes, a broken ladder, a lamp, wine rack, disk break pads, chairs from Fred's, and so forth.

We head over to Blewett's metal recycling and pull in.  From the front all you see is a fence with a sign that says "Drive up".  Tom knew what to do so he told me to pull forward onto the scale. We did and were weighed. Then we were directed to the drop off area. It was a very busy place. People from all over the area were there doing the same thing. Driving all around back and forth dropping off metal. I have never had such an experience before. Men with pickup trucks dumping old chairs, car parts, TV's along with every other metal object they could scrounge up. It looked like mayhem but it was infact a well functioning yard. Then, I saw this big backhoe with a car body stuck to the front. The driver is driving all over the place with it. I was confused as to what to do because everyone seemed to be going in every direction.  Trucks are parked dropping off stuff, then driving around you as you pull in, then backing up really fast toward you only to turn around and drive out.  After a few minutes of unloading our "scrap" I realized that the backhoe driver with the car stuck to the front actually had a purpose.  He was using the car body as a broom!  Holy moly!  He backed up then pushed the scrap piles to one bigger pile across the lot. Over and over he did this to create one giant pile of metal for crushing. The other people, who seemingly are driving aimlessly in every direction, are used to this place and know exactly what to do because they have done it a billion times before. It was just my perception that this was mayhem.  But it wasn't.  We then got to the area where you drop off aluminum and brass. You get more if you sort your metal's.  We wait on line, then back in when it's our turn. We get a ticket for those metal's,  then get weighed again. Tom parks the van in the lot and goes in to the office to get paid. Within 4 minutes he comes out with a receipt detailing our metals and weight of the scrap, along with a few dollars. "Well, we got beer money." "$40."

All smiles we headed home with a new experience together and a great understanding of how people make money with scrap metal.  How useful John Blewett's place is in keeping our landfills free of useful waste.  Many others will benefit from this scrap metal yard too.  From the people who collect it, to the people who buy it from Blewett's.  What a great memory we will share and a fabulous experience in recycling.


Need Money? Two words. Scrap Metal.


Peace.
Suzanne


**It is my understanding that the metal from Blewett's is sorted by type, crushed, cubed, and sold to companies who will melt it down and manufacture something useful.

Cleaning: What your Mother never told you

Good Morning Friends:

I have been working on some new ideas for cleaning and have found the information I'm about to write here to be very valuable.

My mother was an excellent housekeeper. In her older years she had some one come do the work for her but to her specifications. Her house always looked organized and clean. The only thing I noticed was amount of different cleaning products. She had ten or twelve different cleaning products to clean every different surface in her home.  It occurred to me that perhaps we could use only four basic ingredients to conquer the same tasks, so I went on a mission. Here's what I have found.

1.  Vinegar is more useful than we estimate

2. Hydrogen Peroxide is great for blood

3.  Soap and water clean most everything

4. Ammonia is the single best grease cutter and crud cutter on the planet

If you use these four basic ingredients you have an arsenal of cleaning power for only a few dollars and they do every job you can imagine.  Here's what I mean.

Vinegar can be used as a disinfectant, grease cutter, drain de-clogger, window cleaner, and laundry aide. I use vinegar for all these things but find it most useful as my fabric softener. I love the way it works. It measures the same as my downy but costs a fraction to use. No my clothes do not smell like vinegar. Next is peroxide. This lil' wonder removes so many stains I can't begin to name them all. I heard from my mom that is cleans out blood. So I got my feminine stained panties from the wash and went to work on the blood with straight peroxide. I let it sit in a wash tub with a little on the stain, then rubbed and viola! Wash as usual and gone! I also use it in place of the oxide cleaner for the laundry and found peroxide to work just as well. I buy it in large bottles at a buying club to save on money. It also will whiten yellowed whites if washed the dried in the sun. I no longer use bleach unless its really tough. It is also good to rinse your mouth with after brushing. Use a little peroxide mixed with water to kill all the germs in your mouth, but DO NOT SWALLOW!  Peroxides could be lethal.

Soap and water obviously clean what we already know, however, rinsing is the most important part. If you do not thoroughly rinse the soap you will see the dirt reappear. Make certain you have rinsed till no bubbles can be seen, and wring out if possible. Never use it on a carpet because the stain will show again where you scrubbed. Instead on carpets use vinegar.

Ammonia is awful smelling but, with a little tolerance you can cut tough grease in the kitchen in no time. Also use it on windows cut with water 10 - 1.  I also use it to clean my gold jewelry and gemstones. I mix half water and half ammonia in a small plastic cup and swish. No more dirt and they gleam too!

I have many more cleaning solutions. Share this information with your friends and email me if you need help getting a spot out. I may have a solution you never thought of.

Peace,
Suzanne Richards
Suztheadvicelady@gmail.com

My responsibility to ME

I have been over this and over this in my thoughts. Many times over the years I have had to make tough choices to maintain my balance in life. To create a happy and joyful life for myself ad my family. I have the ability to conduct my life the way I believe is right for me. No one else but me has this ability. I choose how and with whom I spend my time. The places I have chosen to work are all good or great companies. If the energy there changes and it I am no longer fulfilled I can move on.


On Sunday I went to work at my store in Howell. I am a cashier in Home Depot. As soon as the store opened I had customers. Some had large dollar bills with which to pay. I requested change from our bookkeeping and made change. As the morning progressed, I encountered several customer who made small purchases and paid with a $100 bill or a $50 bill. Not uncommon. One of those customers who made a small purchase and paid with a $100 bill I gave change to in the amount of $80 or so dollars, which was comprised of 1 $50 and 1 $20 and 1 $10, I thank him for shopping and he leaves. After many hours working and near the end of my shift my manager tells me that the customer called the store and stated that I gave him a "phony"(counterfeit) $50 bill. He further states that "he knew it was phony when I gave it to him. I tested it with my money tester and it is certainly phony."  The store policy is Customers First. My manager questioned me about it, checked my register drawer, and then walked away. My shift ended and went home. The store manager assured me that I was not in any trouble at all but that the store policy was to please the customer and side with him. Still feeling very upset and concerned that I had been targeted I went home and tried to get it off my mind. I returned to work on Tuesday of this week and was placed at a register near the one I was at on Sunday. at around 10:30 am a customer comes to my register, I greet him, he has about $28 in items to purchase, hands me a $50 bill and says, "You gave this to me the other day, so now I am giving it back to you."  My beliefs are confirmed. He is targeting me. There had been an arrest of a man in my county near this store who passed a counterfeit $50 to a taxi driver and was arrested for it.

This brings me back to my first statement. While I trust the managers word that I am not being accused of laundering counterfeit money, I am responsible for what happens at my register. I have security measures in place and take care to be accurate in my transactions. However, I no longer feel confident that this will not happen again with this customer. I have been un easy since his return on Tuesday and called out sick yesterday. So I am taking charge of my future. I have the ability to request a to be moved to another area in the store, or I can leave and find a new job, or I can just ignore all that has happened and continue on as usual. I no longer feel confident, I no longer feel secure. I have decided to resign. No one will be happy with my choice but I. Most will be upset that I am taking this stance. Experience within this retail industry has shown me what happens to cashiers who mishandle their money till. I could be fired if the store feels I am a risk. I do not want anyone to mar my outstanding customer service history nor will I allow it to unfold to see if this will happen. For me, I see that my spirit has been hurt not only by this customer but others.


I am the only one who is responsible for my happiness. You are the only one who is responsible for your happiness.

Peace
Suz

Garden Delight

Morning All:

I am still working on my garden. I have learned that too many plants are no good. I have no room for the flats I bought. I gave 24 plants to my neighborhood friends and they loved my generosity. So glad to have such great friends in the neighborhood. A true blessing. I am certain God placed me in this house so I could have good happy life with my family here in Howell.  Now to change one or two more significant things in my life.  Then I will truly be fulfilled.

I have now planted lima and butternut squash seeds in small pots to see if they will flourish. Its been rainy and cloudy so I am hoping that this will aid in their growth. I am going to plant nothing but edibles this year. I have one or two hanging flower baskets and that is it. Alll my window boxes will be filled with edibles like lettuce and strawberries.

It seems my husband has caught the gardening bug as well. He frequently helps me turn the dirt and does the heavier work for me. He stated "Im not a farmer" but still he helps. He also enjoys my babbling on about the things that are edible in our lawn and in the woods behind our house. I love his attentiveness. :)

Soon we will be in full summer mode. I would love to have a yard that was vacation getaway like. But spending the money on such a yard is not something I want to do. I am too frugal to do all that it takes to do the yard right. We are quite happy for now. I cannot wait for the veggie harvest. I am hopeful I can maintain it through the fall to harvest as much as possible.

Time to head off to work.

Blessings to all

New attempts to grow veggies

Good morning all,

I was wanting to let you know that I've started to grow a vegetable garden. This is the second time I've tried. The first time I tried the plants didn't thrive and I got a very small yield if any. So this time I've done things a little differently. I asked a friend who grows of fabulous vegetable garden organically and he gave me advice on what to do to prepare my soil. It was simple. I turned over the dirt, I added 10 -10-10 fertilizer that's easily obtained in any garden center, and planted my plants that I purchased from a local grower. So far I'm waiting to see what happened.  I did have to wait until May because of the frost and cold winter, however I'm very excited to see what will happen . I want to try to grow my own vegetables set I can save money on my food bill. I've tried container gardening, but is too small of a yield and the containers get out of hand taking up all my patio space. This year I will plant only edible plants in my window boxes. I usually plant flowers exclusively, but I thought herbs and some small veggies would be just as pretty.

I'll keep you up dated.

Suz

Return from hibernation

Good morning! I haven't blogged in a very long time. It's been years since I've decided to blog. I went into a kind of hibernation if you will. I decided that I wasn't going to write, work, talk or do anything or say anything because I had been going through my own metamorphosis. The people I advise and the work that I had done in the past is now over. I am now retired from massage therapy. I no longer practice any of it due to the fact that I'm just changing. Very shortly after I married for the second time we had a very large financial downfall. This forced me to change. I love my new husband but the financial downturn was more than I could handle. So I kind of went into hibernation as I said before.

As we embarked on this huge financial downturn I realized that I wasn't going to give up the path that I was on, however, I was going to reroute my path until we were on steady financial ground. This "adversity" if you will, has forced me to realign my thinking. I've always been the typical New Jersey suburban woman who is of average income. I had an average car. I had an average amount of money in my bank account. All the things that you would typically see in a middle-class family with few worries about survival.  I wanted to retire from massage therapy but it didn't know where I was going what would I do next. I knew I had enough income to get me by until I could figure out the next big thing in my life. So I did it. I retired. After I retired from massage therapy my husband revealed to me that his job prospects had fallen away and that there were no jobs in his field that were hiring at that time. I did not believe him when he told me jobs opened and then closed without even an interview for him, but as I look back now I see you was telling the truth. In order to support ourselves we had to remove money from a retirement account. As uncomfortable as it was to remove that money, I can see now that it was probably the best move that we could've made. There are many more details to this story, however, the point is he has another job, we still have that money from the retirement account, and the changes we made in our spending have bolstered us and taught us a lot.

Changing is good. When you learn to go with the flow and change, you become better. I've learned that as long as I go with the flow I'll be just fine. The moment I try to change the flow, whatever that means at that moment, I am then upset. It's not a matter of  "if" adversity will come, it's a matter of when. And when it does arrive how will you handle it? That being said, adversity had arrived. I was scared to death but I put my faith in God, and head first I dove into changing my view of money.

Today, I am a self proclaimed frugalista. I teach what I have learned and love sharing my experiences with everyone who will listen. I have gone from Entrepreneur, to retiree, to retail store clerk. Sounds radical but it's true. I hope to not only share my experiences but to give others hope with the things that I've learned and with the mistakes I've made. I'm very comfortable in my place of change. I no longer worry about money, I no longer worry about my next meal as I did before.

Follow long as I post and feel free to comment (only positive though please) and we'll share our life and it's experiences ups and downs whatever together.

Suz

When giving up is good

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams."
- Eleanor Roosevelt




Some how seeing this quote makes us want to do something.  It's evoking you to think or do something that perhaps you did not remember you could do.  But doing is not always productive.  What I am trying to say is, sometime we push too hard to get something that we really want only to find we can't get it.  Why is that?  You work and work and try and still it does not happen.  Answer - Because you are chasing it.  If you work and work and find the work hard and struggle and fight to get something you really really want and don't get it, stop trying.  Oh by all means keep wanting it and dreaming about it but give up trying for a while.  Let go of "it" and give yourself a break from "trying".  Allow the Law of Attraction to bring it or someone who can help you get it to you.  Every time I go through this struggle (because I am a very driven person) I remember to let go for a period of time or give up on getting it, and then, Viola!  It appears within reach.  The thing I was dreaming of and struggling for and fighting for.  I thought the more I push the closer I would get to achieving it.  But no! No I would not be mine.  Whatever I was pushing for would go to someone else!  I felt defeated and unimportant because I did not get it.  Then I carried this resentment for years as proof that I could not achieve my g oal. In that moment I gave up, and sure enough in time I got what I wanted.


Ask for what you want.  Work for what you want, but don't struggle and fight.  Allow things to come in their good time.  Have Faith and be happy for where you are now.  Give thanks for what you have achieved at this moment.  Give thanks for your Family, Friends and money in your life right now.  Be happy for today and keep your goals and dreams in the forefront of your mind.  It will come in it's time.


Be well
Suz 

The celebration is over. What now?

As Christmas draws to a close, take time to reflect on what we have, what we've done, and who we have been over the past 12 months.  Each year I take a moment after the holiday's and check my behavior and attitude to see what kind of person I am.  Am I the kind of person I would like to be with?  Have I done what I wanted to do this past year?  If not, then set out to doing it in the New Year.

What is important to me is giving of myself time and money wise.  Being available personally to my family and friends and taking care of my clients as best I can.  This year I have accomplished most of what I wanted in my life. (With my work not so much)  However, in my time this year I have been able to use all of my powers of love and devotion to heal and be healed.  Not healing like Jesus for those of you who are "Christians" but heal like emotional, mental, loving healing.  To further that I wish to volunteer my free time to help a bigger cause.  I am working on that now.  We will see how it turns out.

What kind of person are you?  Answer that for yourself to see who you really are.  Do you like who you really are?  Change is possible.

Sincerely,
Liking who I really am,
Suz


Suzanne Paquette, Life Coach, Reiki Master

Tao words of wisdom I follow every day.

Fill your bowl to the brim
and it will spill.
Keep sharpening your knife
and it will blunt.
Chase after money and security
and your heart will never unclench.
Care about people's approval
and you will be their prisoner.

Do your work, then step back.
The only path to serenity.

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Love and Light
Suzanne

I don't want to hear it

"I don't want to hear it" I cannot tell you how much I have said this over the last 25 years. Wether to my kids, my husband or to total strangers who feel free to come right out and tell you what they think. I must say it at least twice a day. It seems as though it may be coming true. My "hearing" is off. I hear selectively now. My boyfriend is dumbfounded as to how I can hear my dog make a small squeak from the kitchen, but I cannot hear my Daughter who is sitting right next to me. I gotta wonder too. If I tell myself something often enough will it be true?

Perhaps I should tell my self that I am gorgeous. Maybe then I will believe it. Or I should tell myself that I am the richest woman in NJ. Perhaps that will come to be true as well. Because I am constantly telling myself that I am broke, or over weight, they seem to have come to be true. Really what I have to do more is take my own advise and stay positive. Tell my self that I am beautiful. That I can afford whatever I choose. Then finally it will come true. You might want to do the same.

Remember to tell yourself that you are Smart, good looking, capable, strong and can afford what you choose to spend money on. Then that will be your reality. Talking about what you don't want will perpetuate more of the same. So today I say "Let me hear it" Let me hear all the good things that will make me a better person.

I am taking my own advice.
Sincerely,
Suzanne Paquette
the richest woman in NJ

I don't want to get up in the morning

I feel so lucky or blessed to live this life of mine that I can't really complain about things. I hear my self complain and I stop and say "Well remember how it used to be?"
Then I hear my kids say "Ugh I do not want to get up." I do realize it's just an expression, but still I want to tell them "This is the good life."

I don't want to work anymore either. Truth. I want to stay home and be a house keeper. Never thought I would say that. Ugh! I love my work as a Massage Therapist. I more so love my work as a Mentor. But it's easy to just stay home. My point is, once we get going in our day, we have focus, a schedule and more of the ability to get things done. If you had no outside schedule to focus you, would you be productive? Enjoy what life you have here and now. We have such little time on this planet. Even when I am at the school helping the kids in the lunch room. I see my part in their young lives. If I smile they smile too. If I am grouchy, they look away, to avoid the feeling. So I try to smile and say hello to every child. When I am at Sense-Abilities practicing Massage, I smile as much as possible. I is a place of unwinding, of relaxation and peace. I have learned that life can be a lot worse. Each day I wake up, is a new chance to make a better life. Especially if I have someone who is making an effort to smile at me. Even though they, most likely, did not want to get up. By not taking the Easy way out, I have a rich full life. By not taking the Easy way out, I have people I talk with and friends at work to chat with. I have clients who also are a pleasure to converse with. They leave the spa feeling good and that makes me feel good. Life is hard sometimes. But mostly it's a good life.

Be grateful for every bill, every morning, and every penny. It is a new opportunity each time you see them.

Suz

Suzanne's Courage to Change: when do we say no?

Suzanne's Courage to Change: when do we say no?: "I have recently read that it is good karma to be generous. I do believe it is so. After all 'you attract that which you are' (Dr. Wayne Dy..."

Suzanne's Courage to Change: What the hell am I doing?

Suzanne's Courage to Change: What the hell am I doing?: "I have just finished watching TV and having coffee on this Sunday morning and realized something. I was thinking about some young people I ..."

What the hell am I doing?

I have just finished watching TV and having coffee on this Sunday morning and realized something.

I was thinking about some young people I know and was considering asking them "Where is your life going?" Then the little voice in my head said Where is your life going Suzanne? (no I so not have a mental disease) I am a Massage Therapist, Reiki Master, a Mother, and have a 44 year life experience in people. I come from a "normal" family with the typical problems. Addiction being one. Divorce another. Abuse both physical and verbal another. My own divorce was a product of my own awakening. So where is my life going?

My dream is to be a Life Coach. I am studying now and wish to go somewhere with it but after looking myself up on the web, I have found that I do not appear anywhere. I have Facebook, Google Blog Spot, Linked IN, and had various web sites for my Massage practice. But unless I really try, I can't be found.

So... Here is where I will change my life once again. I have not been blogging. I have not been telling people about my work. I have been contemplating what I want but have not really done any of the work. Here is my opinion.

Where is my life going? While having the ability to spit out some positive one liners on Facebook these words of wisdom go nowhere. I understand the value of my one line positive injections in to the world but do others really get anything from them? Here is the deal people. You are what you think you are. I think the only real purpose of me having suffered in life was to teach others what not to do. My mistakes are not new. Nor are they different or revealing. But perhaps I can help Someone with my growth.

I will be offering my helping words of wisdom on as many Internet mediums as I can so I can spread the word that people are not alone or unique. Our problems are universal and we can share how we deal with those problems. I have failed at numerous things. Jobs for instance. I have rang registers, swept floors, made pizza, answered phones, and tried unsuccessfully to please a myriad of people in the inter um. All with failure. Thank God I failed at them. I learned that I really did not want to do any of them and was unhappy all the while. However, if I hadn't been fired as many times as I have I would have blindly chugged along on the wrong path. Even in my Massage Career I have been pleasing people. I am a people pleaser by nature, but that is not where I am going with this. I in fact have always wanted to help other Women (because I am a woman) with their struggle in life to make a place for themselves in this world. We gals are the Mother's the Teacher's the nurturers, the feeders, the givers and the lovers of this world. Yet we question everything. Am I right and I wrong? Am I good enough? and so on. This is what drives me to write. I am not a good writer but regardless I will write anyway. Why? Because it is the only way to broadcast my opinions. Not everyone will agree with my opinions, but that's OK. I can help a few with them anyway.

So this is what I am doing. Telling you that you need not be a people pleaser. Only please yourself, please. You are beautiful enough. You are smart enough. You are strong enough. You are good enough. All of you. Stop trying. Start doing. No more reasoning and contemplating. Enough! Get up and start your life. I will be your cheerleader. I am here to cheer for you the under dog whoever and whomever you are. My seemingly rosy, useless one liners are here to propel you forward. Now they will be individual guides to changing your life for the better. Now I will be writing on as many blogs as I can find and link all of them to something and have my source for conducting change in my world. Yes kids, Mom will not shut up! HELLO! I'M HERE! They hate that. My kids. They are a true reflection of me. Both of them. Ah my reminder of how I came to be the woman I am. My children. Thank God for them!

Show me other ways of broadcasting my words of wisdom! Tell me where I can go to write. And if you feel so inclined, tell me what you think. I can take it.