Blessings & Ideas

Blessings

Here's what I wrote yesterday as my Profile Google.com ::

"I'm out here trying to give a bit more than I'm getting which is tough since I seem to be getting so much good out of life - steady health + loving family + strong friends + plenty of opportunities to exercise my heart & mind & body.

Why don't you give me a shout if you think I could be useful to you? I'd be glad to hear from you.

- Mark

The words just came out of somewhere and I put them down just like that. Neat, huh?

Ideas

A volunteer from Myeloma..Org called me last Friday. I initiated the call when I made a request through their website for contact from someone who had personal experience with Multiple Myeloma. I am very glad I did that. What a wonderful experience that was!

I don't remember ever feeling that another person was really in tune with the thoughts and feelings I had experienced while going though my diagnosis and treatment as much as I felt during our phone call. Besides being able to recall situations and feelings from those times, I was able to see a new perspective on the time since then. I got a glimpse of how I am different since then too.

Before I start wrestling my ideas into some sort of well polished picture, I think it might be good enough if I just write out what came to mind during that conversation. So here it is:

It seems that one big change is in my attitude toward my finances and the way that I use money. Since the reader doesn't know me personally, I can share with you what one person said back in '04 about his view of my attitude toward money. He said, "Mark, of all the people I know there isn't anyone who is so careful with his money as you are." He added, "You are really tight with a buck, man!" And Jack knows me pretty well; both personally and professionally.

Once I got my diagnosis, the first thing I did after beginning dexamethasone & talidomide treatment was to plan a trip. I wanted to go and see the people I love and to have fun doing the things I like to do. There were just two things holding me back. I would have to be away from my son who was just 3 years old at the time and it would likely cost a few thousand dollars. I reasoned that my son would soon be seeing me night and day because I was expecting to be home through certain phases of my treatment.

But the money... it had taken a lot of scrimping and doing without to keep it together! But I thought there was a chance that as soon as a few months later, I  would be in no condition to manage the trip; at least not without someone to help me along. And a lot of the activities I wanted to enjoy needed me to be pretty fit.

And that was the first time I decided to spend money a bit more freely than I had in years -- just to make the best of the time I had -- doing the things I enjoy -- without worrying that the money I was spending would be needed later for something more important. I had the important thing to do right then.

The past couple years have apparently been chock-a-block with lots more of those 'more important things'. Or maybe it is that my attitude toward saving for a future has become less important. For sure my savings are a lot smaller than they were four years ago. My idea about what money is for has changed.

I also have more confidence that I can contribute and get compensated now. So I don't need to worry about saving against the time when there is no way for me to give more than I get to receive enough of what I need.

I guess that about covers it ... and that's all I have to say about that ...