This year, resolve to forgive @ Saver Queen

This year, resolve to forgive

Posted on January 9th, 2009 Saver Queen 10 comments

Did you resolve to reduce or eliminate your debt load this year? The path to financial freedom may begin with forgiveness.

It’s easy to obsess over past mistakes, especially if they are still appearing on your credit card bills, renewing your regrets every month.

But how much does self-punishment and guilt really help us pursue a change in our lives? Shopping provides a short-term high, and is often used, like gambling, alcohol, or binge eating, to fill some kind of a void.

If you are harbouring guilt or anger over your financial sins of the past, you might just push yourself right back to the same old habits you want to avoid, desperate to quench the need for comfort and peace that isn’t coming from within.

I’m trying to do the same thing with my body - living with chronic pain at a young age means that I harbour a lot of guilt and anger at my body for not acting or feeling the way it “should.” Through yoga I am coming to realize that patience and compassion may be the gateways to healing.

And so it is with money. Try forgiveness on for size. You may just find that you lose the compulsion to shop once you find peace within yourself.

10 responses to “This year, resolve to forgive”

Brooke January 9th, 2009 at 17:35

very true. i find the urge to binge when i’m feeling fat and shop when i’m feeling poor. crazy how our minds work!
Miss M January 9th, 2009 at 18:00

I haven’t forgiven myself for running up huge debts, but it hasn’t caused me to overspend. Quite the opposite, I now have trouble spending money even when it’s needed. Thieves broke our car window two months ago, we just replaced it today! I feel a bit guilty for buying breakfast this morning…
Smallblogger January 9th, 2009 at 20:09

I know what you mean about being frustrated by your young body. I feel that way about the bad knees I inherited from my Dad and Grandma. I’m on a list for surgery, and I hate that - at 27 - I’m struggling to crawl around after my son.
Michelle January 10th, 2009 at 17:57

Great post! As always, it’s so easy to get mired down into the weeds. When you look at a large goal (lots of weight to lose, loads of debt to pay off, whatever) it gets overwhelming. You reprimand yourself for it, but see no light at the end of the tunnel, so in frustration you complete the same pattern over and over again until you get it or you don’t. Here’s to forgiving myself, vowing to stay on track, and having an awesome debt-free end to 2009 (plus maybe 10 lbs or so shaved off thanks to a renewed fitness regime!).
Karissa January 11th, 2009 at 15:01

Beautiful post
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