How to Get Your “-er”

Choosing “STRONGER” as my One Word for 2015 definitely has it’s downsides.  It means I’m being forced to look at the WEAKER areas in my life and, you know…actually DO something about them.

My Weight Watcher leader used to say, “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.”

So “-ER” means SOMETHING has got to change.

One of the glaring weaknesses in my character is around money.  I just don’t like to pay attention to it.

At all.

Start using words like “budget” or “overdraft” or “money market” and my eyes glaze over like a stoner from the 70’s.

It’s not like I’m a crazy spender. I’m not really a “shopper”.  But I just always assume there’s gonna be money there for me to give or spend – like the Tooth Fairy just takes care of my bank account.  This has led to a tad bit of, let’s just say, less than responsible money management (since there’s no “management” involved).

It’s like with weight and diets.  The more you know, the more you feel responsible.  I don’t want to know anything about money because I really don’t want to be responsible.

Ignorance is bliss baby!  To get your “-er” you need to do something different.

So it was with all the enthusiasm of a cat heading for a bath that I reluctantly told John I was going to go to the first (and ONLY the first) session of the Financial Peace University course at our church.  I HATE going to meetings at night, and I HATE talking about money, and I usually refuse to commit 9 weeks to anything other than Downton Abbey or The Amazing Race, so this wasn’t exactly a recipe for success.

The problem is that Dave Ramsey is pretty funny (even when he’s being cheesy) and it wasn’t as painful as I thought, and, well it actually seems to make sense.  Mostly, I know that if anything ever happened to John, I’d be dead meat.

So here was John and I having our first Economic Summit last weekend.

He kept using phrases like “Lie from the pit of hell” and laughing hysterically as I estimated what I spend, and I kept trying to convince him that gifts are bought with “magic money”.

Baby steps.

I have a friend whose been in an unhealthy job situation, but she’s so nice that it’s been hard for her to get up the courage to quit.  We’ve been praying with and for her and talking it out, and yesterday she was oh so brave and talked to her boss.  She did something different and is stronger for it.  The common element I see between my friend’s “-er” and mine is that we need a posse.  We all need a team of folks to be in the “-er” stuff with us.

So what’s your “-er” today? 

Patienter, bolder, safer, wiser, generouser, healthier?

Who’s in your posse? If you want, we in this little blog community can be it. Just weigh in in the comments.

What’s one small step you can take to get there?  

Do something different today.