You must begin from where you are

“You must begin from where you are”

What a perfect truth right there.

Where else could you even start? The past is gone no matter what you desire, and I suppose you could start in the future, but we all know that will never happen, lol, so you gotta start right now wherever you are 😉 We’re only guaranteed THIS MOMENT RIGHT HERE anyways, and what a gift it truly is!

Everything in life has brought you to this very exact article right here, and lucky for me you’re reading whatever I type right now…

I could say:

I am a poopy head!

And you read it! Lol… Or even:

Saving is so sexy that my life has changed forever and now all the ladies love me.

BOOM! And now:

The tumbleweed refused to tumble but was more than willing to prance than dance.

Hahaha okay Ill stop 😂

But seriously. Everything has led you to this one point where you’re able to start anything new because of how life has unfolded. Maybe it’s a career choice. Maybe it’s a new relationship. Maybe it’s getting your finances together for the first time and this is the first blog you’ve ever stumbled onto (sorry about that!). Whatever the new journey is you can only start NOW as there’s no going backward, so please don’t beat yourself up over it.

The important thing is that at least *the light bulb went off* in the first place! Do you know how many people wake up in their 50s or 60s and still haven’t paid attention to their debts or health or worse – their dreams?! I WISH I could have started saving in my teens vs my 20s or got excited about working out and yoga in my 20s vs my 40s, but thank God I started as soon as everything clicked.

You must begin where you are, there is no other way.

Now you might think this quote came from a philosophy book or maybe it was something Oprah once said, but it actually came from my favorite yoga book: “Yoga Girl” by Rachel Brathen:

It’s a great read mixing in her story along with killer yoga poses, and it’s chalk full of epic one-liners that not only apply to yoga, but to life – and particularly money! – too. I re-stumbled across it again on my bookshelf and totally forgot I had dog-eared a bunch of these lines which I thoroughly enjoyed re-reading.

And in the spirit of crossing my ONE YEAR ANNIVERSARY doing yoga (255 classes later – what!), I present them to you below in hopes they inspire you just as much as they did me 🙂

Most are copied as-is, and others I’ve tweaked to better prove my financial hypothesis here, haha…

Let me know what you think!

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“You don’t need to change anything about who you are to start a yoga practice paying attention to your money.”

Yes! You simply take notice one day and actively start looking at where all your money is going. Your debts, your bills, your income – everything. You don’t need to *change* any of it right away, you just stop and start *noticing* and getting the lay of the land!

Once you know what you’re dealing with, then the game plan can be activated from there. But it doesn’t require changing who you are, and in fact, over time it should help you become a BETTER version of yourself! Because the more confident you get in your finances, the more confident you get in all other areas of your life 👊

“Be the best you can be.”

Yes Yes Yes. Most of the insecurities we struggle with come from thinking that things should be different from reality. But reality reflects exactly where we are right now, and all we can do is strive to improve!

“You don’t need to know every step ahead of you to be able to move forward.”

All you need to know is the general *direction* you want to go towards, and then you put one step in front of another and let forward momentum carry you from there. It’s not as complicated as we often make it out to be! Just do one little thing, and then another, and then another.

“Much of what we eat spend in a day is simply a result of boredom!”

Totally haha.. So you gotta do your best to not put yourself in situations where it’s easy to cave! And one of the best ways is by putting yourself into more positive situations than negatives. I remember when I first started blogging I immediately had less time to go to the mall and aimlessly shop, and BOOM – half the problem was immediately eliminated just because I kept myself busy! I replaced bad habits with good habits, and the same holds true with my time these days as well… Hitting the gym has replaced staring at a screen all morning, volunteering has replaced wasting time watching TV, and finding more veggies and foods I equally enjoy has replaced more sugary ones. As the saying goes, idle hands are the devil’s workshop.

“The thing that hurts us in the long run is our mind, not our body.”

So absolutely true… Our mind is the most dangerous thing there is. This quote by Marcus Aurelius sums it up well:

I have often wondered how it is that every man loves himself more than all the rest of men, but yet sets less value on his own opinion of himself than on the opinion of others.

This has to be one of the biggest bugs in human development! We spend too much time caring about what others think about us!

“Trust in your own ability to create magic.”

100%. Put those beautiful skills God gave you to work. No one else is going to do it for you!

“Practicing naked is extremely liberating. Love your body. Think about all that it does for you every day.”

Haha okay this one might be a stretch, but we all know budgeting naked does make it way more fun 😉 I’ve been watching a lot of Naked and Afraid episodes too here lately, and there’s something beautiful about going back to the basics of both nature and survival. Similar to loving ourselves just for who we are, we should be very much loving our bodies just the same!

“Be kind to yourself!”

You will without a doubt make mistakes along your financial journey, so don’t even pretend you won’t. Just expect them and do your best to be patient with yourself! Treat yourself like you do a best friend or family member. Again, you are worth it!

“The goal is serenity. Balance. Truly finding peace in your own skin.”

BOOM. The whole point of working so hard on your finances is to one day NOT have to work so hard on them! In fact, once you’re financially free you don’t even have to THINK ABOUT IT anymore! It’s ironic, yes, but also magical. Peace with your finances = peace in many other areas in life too.

“Worrying is praying for what we don’t want to happen. Focus on what you want, not what you fear!”

Positive thinking can go a looooooong way with this stuff! You’ll not only reach your goals faster, but you’ll feel better generally when you’re more optimistic! Most things we’re afraid of never even come true.

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Other great lines for life in general:

“Life is not as serious as your mind makes it out to be.”

Yup! Laugh a little!

“Don’t judge your life as good or bad. Love what is.”

Acceptance is an underrated super power. The moment you stop pretending or wishing, the better you’ll be able to see the beauty in what is. Meditation helps immensely with this.

“Remember that you are the only one suffering by clinging to the past.”

And you can’t change it no matter what you do!

“The first thing you do in the morning should not include social media or e-mails!”

Gosh I wish everyone realized this… And especially IN BED! A sacred space for you and anyone else laying there with you. Not only does it let *the outside world* set your tone for the day, but it doesn’t even let you fully wake up and process life before you get the day started 🙁 You’re immediately blasted with the world’s problems before you even get out of bed!!

“Allow yourself to feel.”

There’s a place for action and moving on, but first – just feel. The highs, the lows, and everything in between.

“Do no harm, but take no shit.”

So good  🙂

“The only thing that matters is how much you love… your purpose on this Earth is to love.”

I think about this one often, and partially why my last tattoo was a heart where I see it constantly:

There you have it! Take what inspires you, and leave the rest…

If you’re interested in the book, you can find it at Amazon right now for around $13: “Yoga Girl” Or check out your local library as it’s a pretty popular one! An Instagrammer turned author turned guru.

See ya back here again soon.

Namaste,

// Links to Amazon above are affiliate links

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