My Cup Runneth Over
Up until a few days ago, I felt that the Thanksgiving festivities just weren't the same. For one thing, it's about 90 degrees here, so it's hard to get in the holiday mood. For another thing, my side of the family is all in the States, so it's just me, hubby and the kids who celebrate the day, and the kids have school until 5:00 pm. Then, there's the issue of the meal itself; granted, with a great deal of effort (and about $80) I can find a turkey and some of the most basic of trimmings like potatoes and green beans, but I'll have to forego the jelled cranberry sauce and apple pie. Oh, and there's no parade on TV, either.
But, those things aside, it just that I felt we didn't have a lot to be thankful for, you know what I mean? This has been a rough year - we've still not completed our own home (though we've got no mortgage on it, everything is paid for with cash, and other priorities have put the brakes on the building), our old car has been having chronically expensive maintenance pangs, the world's economic crisis and rising oil prices have put our trip across the pond to see my family on the back burner (again), we're managing with a single monthly pension payment to make ends meet in the face of rising prices on nearly everything, and our daughter was diagnosed with juvenile diabetes this past summer, adding to our emotional stress and monetary woes. No, there hasn't been a lot that we can be thankful about this past year.
I am usually the "cup is half empty" kind of person, always looking for the negative. But I started thinking about the "cup is half full" perspective and came to an amazing conclusion: Forget about half full -- our cup runneth over. We really have a lot to be thankful for.
We are not homeless, nor are we in fear of losing our home as are so many Americans who are facing eviction and foreclosure. We have a place that we're living in right now and a home that has almost reached the occupancy stage.
We have a car that is still gets us where we need to go, or access to a back-up taxi and driver otherwise. And while car parts for our heap may be expensive, labor is cheap, so it evens out in the end. We own the car outright (we should, its 14 years old!) and don't have to worry about making payments on a car note.
We can communicate with my family, at any time, over a landline or cell phone, or talk cyber face-to-face over the internet using VOIP technology - I can almost be there. (And if I call at the right time, I'll be able to watch the Thanksgiving Day parade on their television.)
The funding of our monthly pension payment is fixed, steady and reliable. I know many people, including members of my own family in the U.S., are seeing significant reductions in their pensions and retirement plans, or have seen their savings depleted.
If we should need extra cash, we are fortunate because we can find work either through local consulting or online freelancing. Several people that I know in the U.S. have recently lost their jobs or seen a huge reduction in their working hours; others are facing the threat of job cuts. My own brother who is a self-employed building contractor hasn't seen any work in months.
Our daughter is alive. And her basic medical necessities can be satisfied here for far less than we would pay in out-of-pocket expenses, even through medical insurance in the U.S. I estimate that in any given month, our daughter's diabetes related needs cost us about $300, which includes glucose meter strips and insulin. An uninsured or underinsured person in the U.S. would like pay more than double that.
If, after you've finished reading this you thought to yourself, "Yep, that's me, having too much debt or facing foreclosure or out of work or paying a small fortune for medical expenses," you might be wondering what you've got to give thanks for. How about this? Help. DebtStoppers bankruptcy and debt relief attorneys want to offer you a reason to be thankful. We can help you with your personal debt, impending foreclosure, financial problems and economic worries.
So, tomorrow morning, right after you've finished that piece of pecan pie that's been calling your name, you go and give us a call. Contact a DebtStoppers bankruptcy and debt relief attorney, and once you've had the opportunity to sit and talk with us and learn what your options are, you'll have a new positive outlook on your economic future. Certainly, you'll see, as I did, that it really is a wonderful life. Forgive me, I couldn't resist.