The Icing Lifestyle

It's all over the internet:

Start Your Own Business and Become a Millionaire!
Be an Entrepreneur!
Be Your Own Boss and Make Millions!

Tons of people selling tons of programs- some good, some not so good. But the premise is the same. The ultimate goal is to become a millionaire. 

I jumped on this particular bandwagon with both feet. Of course I wanted to be a millionaire! They are self sufficient, can go on vacations- heck, most of their year is a vacation! Work less, make more...no, make tons more! Being a millionaire is the end-all, be-all everyone should strive for to be happy.

Or is it?

At first, that's what I believed had to happen in order to have a happy life. Happiness for me was finally getting to go on a real vacation, where money was no object, and we could eat out every day for every meal, we could go where we wanted without having to worry if the vehicle we drove would make it, or have to make a budget for gas. And when we came home, I could swim in the backyard pool while someone else would clean my house.

The Icing Lifestyle. 

It sounds great, doesn't it? But if you read that paragraph again, you'll notice something missing. Something big. There's no Godly purpose. This dream goal isn't a lifestyle, it's a prison of self-induced greed.

There's no cake. It's all icing.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to do all of these things, but if this is all you want out of life, that's a problem. And to be honest, this used to be my goal! I don't thinkI'd make a good millionaire. I'd be to prone to get lost in being spoiled and pampered, and not think much about helping others.

Oh, at first I thought 'When I become a millionaire, I can help people out of the same ruts I'm in. I can help a lot of people!' Let's be honest here- some people are worse off when handed a wadful of cash. Cash isn't the answer to everything.

Wow. 

Money isn't everything. 

Well, dip me in butter and call me a biscuit, this was a new concept for me!

I have three online gurus I listen to. One is a millionaire, one might be a millionaire (but doesn't state if she is or not), and one is more of a thousandaire or six-figureaire. And they all agree on one thing- you need to have purpose to live a happy life.

The money is the icing on the cake- not the cake itself. The cake is your Godly purpose. The icing is the blessings that come with the cake.

Have you ever had cake with too much icing? The first taste might be good, but after a while you don't want to finish it- it's just too sweet. Either that or you get a sugar rush the size of a small state, and wind up crashing in the middle of the birthday party!
But a cake that has the right amount of frosting not only tastes better, but lasts longer because you can enjoy it more. You can savor it. And when you're done, you feel satisfied.

It took a lot of prayer and looking deep within myself to realize I don't want to be a millionaire. I'd be perfectly content being a six-figureaire, and not a high six-figureaire at that. After talking with my husband, we both realized we'd be content with less than a third (or even a quarter) of a millionaires salary, so that's our new goal. Enough so we can do all the things we've been dreaming about, but also allows us to remain financially humble and help others wisely. 

Maybe you could handle more icing on your cake, maybe you'd be content with less. Just remember to make the cake the best it can be first, and God will bless you with all the icing you need!

Limits Equal...Freedom?!?

I know- that sounds weird, right? How can limiting anything equal freedom? 

Well, if you limit your food intake, you're freed up from all that extra weight...
If you limit your time underwater, you won't drown...
And if you limit your work, you have more time to recoup and recharge.

Limits are starting to sound really good, aren't they?

I still have yet to do the first, I do the second one only when swimming, and the third? The third is what I've been focusing most of my attention on lately.

Lent allows me (since it's still going on until the 25th), to limit myself. I refrained from having a screen in my face for most of my day. Doing so lead to another limit- this one concerning time. I had to find a balance between work and relaxation that would make me a vegetable or a workaholic. 

Last week I had a plethora of time, but the total time spent wasn't blessing my family. Writing is my passion, but when I was honest with myself, not a full-time job- not yet. The two airport driving jobs I do weren't bringing in enough regular work, so I decided to take the plunge and drive for Uber.

At first it was great. Then I began tipping those scales into all-work-and-no-play mode. I had to limit my time so I could be a better blessing for my family at home. Money isn't everything, though I admit, it truly used to be for me!

By limiting myself, I found I had more freedom. I worked when the family didn't need me. I'm home when they do (for the most part- they've learned that me not being there 24/7 is okay too.) When I was home I was productive and even made time to play games with the kids. Yes- even teenagers (especially teenagers!) need some fun mom-and-dad time! 

Have you ever noticed when you have a lot of home time you don't feel like doing much else once the chores are done? Or working all the time makes work really boring and tedious? If you limit your time with both, the blessings are incredible!

If you're finding yourself tired or bored with life, see where your time is being spent. Find the places that might need limits to be more productive. I never realized that I could get more done in a limited time frame until I only had 'this much time' to get it done! 
If you have hours and the tasks takes an hour, you have all day to get it done. But if you limit yourself, things get revved up and you now have more of a reason to finish in the time allotted- freeing you up for the rest of the day!

Look at your day. Find places to limit yourself. Then get out there and be a blessing- and blessed!

Lent Life Lessons Part Deux- Slips and Stumbles

Two weeks into Lent...not sure if it's gone so fast or not fast enough!

Two weeks of no PC games and no Netflix. No TV at all, really- not even Youtube, unless it was educational, or something a family member was watching. I relinquished all control of the remote.

My family loved it. Apparently I'm a remote hog.

Ten days in was my first true stumble- I didn't even realize I'd done it until I'd clicked onto another video...and another. It started innocently enough- there was a post on Facebook that was interesting, and I played it. (And yes, it was educational!) but then, that sinister sneak of a sidebar had something that was tied to the video I just watched, so I clicked. Next thing you know, I'm watching clips from Jimmy Fallon.

I love Jimmy Fallon. He is such a kid at heart! But what I was watching was definitely within the No-No Zone for my Lent Media Fast.

Oops.

I barely lasted ten days!

I could have beaten myself up over it, but to be honest, I now find myself getting annoyed when I do. Mistakes happen- I fell back into a bad habit without realizing it, so it wasn't as if I twirled my handlebar mustache and said 'Yes! YES! I shall now intentionally do this bad deed and break my Lent commitment! MWAHAHAHAA!!'  

That was a metaphorical handlebar mustache, by the way. I hope not to have a real one for several years yet. But the metaphor is still valid.

So back on the Clydesdale I went, making sure this time I would behave myself. 

But I slipped again! Just an hour later!

Frustrated, I wound up turning the computer off after that and looked for something better to do- like wrestle greased alligators naked. At least then I wouldn't be able to click on any stupid distracting links!

Lucky for me I didn't need to go naked alligator wrestling. I had an entire house to declutter. I did that for most of the day until I had to make dinner- another great thing to do to keep from being distracted- and it blesses my family!

The rest of the week went well, and I learned a lot more from my gurus, including scheduling time for fun and rest as well as the busy must-get-done stuff. I'm even working on a calendar for the week, month, and year so I can plan fun things way ahead of time (like Creation, which always seems to creep up on us and we never have the money to go!) as well as bigger projects (like the cooking videos) and goals (like getting debt free ASAP). 
This scheduling project alone should take me a few days to a week to properly implement, but once I get the initial balls rolling, it will get easier and easier. My main goal is to have a plan in place by the end of Lent so I don't have time to binge-watch shows anymore- unless I plan them!

Fourteen days down, twenty-six to go. Twenty-six days to get my schedule and my Schmidt together. My muse has awakened from her coma, and pesters me with ideas all the time again. Frankly, I thought she was dead. I hadn't had a fast flow of ideas this much in ages, and it makes me excited for the future once more. 

I'm so glad I did this challenge for Lent!

Lessons Learned:

I'm a much happier person when I'm productive.
I'm a less happier person if that's all I do the entire day.
Fun times must be scheduled as much as work time- otherwise it might never be scheduled!
I found that when I'm busy I eat less and eat better- especially if I purposely heat up healthy dinner leftovers for lunch the next day.
Scheduling exercise is a must as well- and something I need to work on...badly.
I sleep like a brick at night after a productive and fun day- better sleep than after a completely productive one!

How are you doing with your challenges (if you made them)?