As I perused my journals from the past, another theme emerged. It was obvious that I was going through an intense emotional struggle in my first couple years adjusting to my new environment. Sometimes when the times seem difficult, people seem cruel, and the environment seems unbearable, you must remind yourself a few thoughts:

These times do not last forever.
They are not as bad as it may seem.
Many people around you care about you and are ready to help.
Someone next to you has it harder.
You can handle far more difficult challenges.
You …

Around eight years ago when we were in St. Thomas on vacation, I wrote down the following values. I had just finished a book about Benjamin Franklin and felt it was important to have my own values down on paper just as he had his. They are as relevant today as they were then. I would add a few more sentences now but we’ll leave that for another post.
Family & Love
Love your family, friends, neighbors, & others. Build trust & spend time with your family. Love thy neighbor. A strong …

Time value of money is taught in every finance class. Rich people understand this very well because their money earns money for them over time. However, despite the title of the post, I want to actually address another topic “money value of time.” Certainly, you’ve heard statements such as “it’s not worth your time to …” Well, how valuable is your time if we use dollars as the unit of measure of value? Should you spend endless hours to save 10% on your new purchase? Should you clean your yard …

“A wise man makes his own decisions, an ignorant one follows the public opinion.” ~ Chinese Proverb
What could be so hard about making decisions? I hope you are one of those rare people who are able to make quick and sound decisions all the time. This ability, I believe, is almost as unique as having a gift for playing a musical instrument or one for creating sculptures.
The rest of us struggle with making decisions for many reasons. We are afraid we might hurt others. We think too much about every …

Some of us spend the best (both largest and generally also the most productive) part of our life working. We do so purely to earn a living, to interact with people, and for many diverse and sometimes complex reasons. I will say that as humans we MUST work. Just as a child must play and just as we must eat and drink, every human needs some form of work. Though I realize this is a strong statement, I have come to the conclusion that work is absolutely necessary for healthy …