Really Precious or Simply Pressing

Christmas is fast approaching. This most wonderful time of the year is also the most time consuming, budget blowing and energy sapping, if you do not set your priorities right.

Time

You only have twenty-four hours, no matter where you are and who you are. So, you can only do whatever you can "squeeze" within the twenty-four hour period, daily. A third of that, say eight hours, will go to rest period. For health reasons, you have to sleep for at least eight hours, right? You are now left with just sixteen hours. If you are a member of the eight to five crowd, you have to be at work for eight hours. You are now left with only eight hours, deduct from that the time you will have to spend for eating, personal necessities and hygiene, say two hours, you will only have six hours. How about the time for cooking, washing, cleaning and "straightening" things around the house? Just saying "no" to my daughter takes up a lot of my time and energy than I thought possible! Get the picture? Therefore, do only what is truly necessary to be get done by you and nobody else's. The rests you can delegate. Those that you fail to delegate, or you simply got no one to delegate to, will pretty much take care of themselves, or will no longer matter as much, when viewed from across the years. The key is to always opt for the precious moments over the pressing matters in life.

Money

Will the ones who have no financial worries, raise a foot? Well, inasmuch as nobody is raising a foot, it will be safe to say that almost everybody who is a financial nobody, with the exception of Warren Buffet, Bill Gates and company, the ordinary folks, like you and me, are feeling the economic crisis. Now, what can we do? ECONOMIZE! Do some budget s t r e t c h i n g ! What else can we do?!? It is still illegal to rob banks and peddle shabu the last time I look. Ergo, we do what we can legally do under the circumstances, which is to economize.

Here is one sure budget stretching measure: Simply bear in mind that things which won't kill you, if you cannot have or do not have, you certainly can forego. Moreso, if you cannot afford to pay for those in cash. Remember to buy only what is truly precious in the long run and not only momentarily pressing due to your wanting it, because it is in vogue.

Energy

You only have so much energy, which translates to just how much effort you can exert. Learn to say no. When asked for a favor you simply cannot do, due to "energy" constraints, say no. Conserve your energy for those precious moments shared with your loved ones. To further conserve your "body power" you do not have to honor invitations coming from every TOM, DICK or HARRY. Turn down those invitations coming from the DICKs. Get the point?