Janetta 2.0, Or Something Like That
This pandemic has taught me a very valuable lesson: that I am lazy as hell. I mean, I am super lazy. Just to clarify, I am not lazy physically. I discovered that I was lazy financially, were at this moment in time, it matters the most.
Since the beginning of the closures and lockdowns, I began to prepare my family. My focus was on cold medicines, allergy medicines, frozen foods, and poultry. Lots of poultry to fill my freezer (sorry pork and beef, next time) and lots of frozen veggies to piss off my 11-year-old son.
I spent money on getting my family prepared for sheltering in place, as my local county here in Georgia instructed us to do. However, since I decided to subscribe to the fear portion of the pandemic at the moment, I forgot that the pest control guy was coming. And the lawn guys. And Comcast will want their money soon. Oh no, what have I done? I’ve overspent.
With only $2300 left in savings, I was able to blow through that and the money I had saved for the mower and exterminator. Now, I’m in panic mode. Nope, not yet, panic can be placed on hold because I just discovered something else: we will need to restock on breakfast staples soon. Shizzzzzzzzzz. Oh, and this just in, there is no such thing as masks and gloves and disinfectants in the area that I live in. Major development: The internet is out of those supplies too. Okay, resume panic mode.
That is what made me realize that I was financially lazy. I make an income that I grew comfortable with. Just enough to live and to do something every now and again like normal people. I didn’t care about being well off because I did not want to alter my mindset when it comes to relationships and money. So I chose relationships over money. Now I am seeing how that was wrong.
I limited myself because I did not want to go to hell for loving money over God. I limited myself because I didn’t want my family thinking that I am uppity for having money. I limited myself because of me. Even though I wanted to maintain my human connections, I was also doing them and myself an injustice by having a limited mindset. What if I need to travel to visit a loved one or transport my mother from her state to mine? How can I do that with limited to no funds available?
What can I do? Nothing when it comes to the past, but lots when it comes to the future. I am putting together a plan to concentrate on creating multiple income streams for myself. Those income streams will help provide for not just my immediate family, but for my extended family in the event that they need a pick-me-up. I shook the notion of going to hell for having money about 3 years ago but did not make any moves because I was comfortable.
Being comfortable is great as long as you are fully covered. This pandemic has shown us, as a whole, different elements of life that we all are lacking, especially in the areas concerning mental and physical health. We, as individuals, have to see what this time in history has revealed to us about ourselves. We also have to find a solution to fix those areas of life that have been exposed and in need of repair. As the CDC and others are working hard to get life back on track, take this time to work on YOU. You can’t help others if you need help too. Let’s try to minimize the side effects of life.
