As my sister and cousin stood in the kitchen, they looked at my wife and said, “Don’t you hate girls like that?”
They said it in a joking tone, but you could tell they weren’t entirely joking.
My wife has had three kids. And she looks pretty darn good. But she didn’t get fit watching TV and eating junk food.
Actually, she works really hard at losing the baby weight. She exercises two or three times a week, and watches what she eats. It takes about a year of disciplined diet and physical activity to get down to her pre-pregnancy weight.
My sister and cousin are overweight. Naturally, they envy “the skinny girls” (like my wife). And rather than take responsibility for their own actions (or inactions), they’d prefer to pretend like fitness is something you inherit. As if some girls have it and some don’t, and that’s just the way it is.
But fitness is not accidentally acquired; it is achieved. And if my sister and cousin ever want to become fit, they’ll have to accept responsibility for their physical condition, and then do something to change it.
Why do I bring this story up at all?
Because while we are in debt, it is easy to have the same negligent attitude as my sister and cousin. We might as well say, “Don’t you hate those debt-free people?” As if being debt-free is some kind of accidental condition!
So long as we have an attitude like this, we won’t get very far. Rather, we must acknowledge that poor money habits caused the debt and better money habits will eliminate the debt.
In other words, we must change. And the first step toward change is acknowledging where the problem started: us!
Today’s assignment: stop blaming and start changing. ;-)
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Yeah, my wife gets the same thing. She’s had two kids and returned to her pre-pregnancy weight fairly quickly. It’s really not a hard formula: exercise more and eat less carbs.
I tire of women blaming their kids for their weight problem. It’s not that kids fault.
Strangely, I guess the debt-free formula is just as simple, earn more and spend less.
At least for 95% of the situations. I realize there are people who have genetic issues with weight gain… and those who may have unavoidable circumstances that put them into debt.
But, isn’t it amazing, how people always like to use the rare exceptions as an excuse?
John – It is amazing.
I like how you boil weight loss and debt reduction down to its simplest elements:
–exercise more, eat less
–earn more, spend less
Who couldn’t do that?
P.S. Fifty years ago, weight loss was called “reducing.” So there’s even a parallel in terminology. (“Reducing debt.”)
good point, ryan. i’ve found from my own struggles and from reading about or talking with other people that debt reduction/elimination is something one conscientiously and actively works on — not something that happens luckily or magically!
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