Archive for December, 2009
When you go through the process of setting personal goals, make sure that you are the one to define what needs to be achieved to meet those goals successfully. Society, culture, family and friends may all have their own definition of success and those definitions can vary greatly. What matters is what you believe, not what others believe. So before you go with what society thinks, first stop to determine what is important to you.
The goals we set for ourselves generally stem from those things that bring us joy and a sense of fulfillment. They are shaped by passion, curiosity and the foundational principles on which we have been raised. Therefore, what we define as success is unique to each of us.
The experiences we have will always play a role in our definition of success. We are the sum of both our good and our bad experiences. If we see and admire someone who selflessly gives of their self to others, those traits become part of what we then call success. If on the other hand, we see someone who is outwardly successful by society’s standards, but has paid the price of that success with notoriety or loneliness, our own definition of success may include avoiding that which makes the other successful.
That time of year has come once again when we gather together to with family and friends to celebrate the kinder side of humanity. It is a time of expressing our thankfulness for the blessings we have received and also a time to reach out to others less fortunate so that they in turn may also feel blessed.
Now many of us celebrate at different times and in different ways. That is not what this post is about.
I come from a traditional christian background and as such, my celebrations are anchored in the philosophy that background has given me. However, I do not believe that basic human kindness and charity are specific to any given background. We all have within ourselves the capacity to reach out to others and make a difference regardless of the season. This is just a time when we are reminded of the importance of doing so.
One of my favorite times is the 24th of December. This is the day that has been set aside for my 3 children, their significant others and 3 grandchildren spend time with me celebrating the season. Next year (possibly even this year), we will have another join us as my oldest daughter is expecting. While a busy time, it is also a time and memory that we jointly share. Good food, warm company and the expressions of the little ones as they open their gifts are pearls of memory that bind us as a family.
To one and all, I wish peace and happiness, now and in the future.
SherryD
http://www.imperfectyou.com
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This is an article submitted to a 1999 Louisville Sentinel contest to find out who had the wildest Christmas dinners.. It won first prize.
As a joke, my brother Jay used to hang a pair of panty hose over his fireplace before Christmas. He said all he wanted was for Santa to fill them.
What they say about Santa checking the list twice must be true because every Christmas morning, although Jay’s kids’ stockings overflowed, his poor pantyhose hung sadly empty.
One year I decided to make his dream come true. I put on sunglasses and went in search of a doll to fill those pantyhose. They don’t sell those things at Wal-Mart. I had to go to one of the more mature bookstores downtown.
If you’ve never been in a specialty store of this sort, don’t go, you’ll only confuse yourself. I was there an hour saying things like, ‘What does this do?’ ‘You’re kidding me!’ ‘Who would buy that?’ Finally, I made it to ‘doll’ section.
On my post, Do You Balance Your Checkbook, there is a comment from Rattan that asks “what is the best way to balance a checkbook that has never been reconciled”. This is a really great question and one many may have, so I have decided to answer Rattan’s question in a new post so that I might cover it in a more complete manner than a responding comment would allow.
The simplest way to begin reconciling a bank account is to do so from the beginning when the account is first opened. However, you may have an account that has been open for a while and have now decided that it is time to reconcile it.
Lets start with the basic meaning of the word reconcile. According to the Free Online Dictionary, it means to become compatible or consistent. In terms of balancing your chequebook or bank account, this is a bit vague for most people. Basically the intent behind reconciling a bank account is to balance your understanding of what amount of money is available in your account with the bank’s at a given point in time. This is why I like to use the last day of the month. Personally I like to use the phrase balance as opposed to reconcile as it is one most people can relate to better.
If you have been keeping track of your monetary transactions, you are able to easily see which of those transactions have cleared your bank account and which remain outstanding. If you have also been keeping a paper or spreadsheet ledger of your transactions, you will be able to zero in on a specific balance on a specific date.
