Self-Sufficiency Comes Cheap

There seems to be the misnomer that the only way to become more self-sufficient is to be loaded with money. Well, I can assure you from personal experience, such is NOT the case. It’s a matter of priorities, not paychecks.
A few years ago my husband and I had just gone through a horrible financial set-back; while 2008 hit a lot of businesses, we managed to do quite well until…well, until a whole lot of things happened all at once. We closed up a business, walked away from over $2.5 million in contracts that were due to us, filed for bankruptcy, held garage sales, etc. etc. I can honestly say that I had never been lower. Up until that time I couldn’t fathom anything more “failure oriented” than having to file bankruptcy! I kept praying I kept smiling and I kept hoping, but the rest of me just wasn’t buying it. I didn’t want to DO anything anymore–not consult, not clean house–nothing.  I stopped doing the things I needed to do for my own mental and physical health and, to be a bit vulnerable in sharing this, my husband started to worry after a few days of lengthy hours of watching reruns of Gilligan’s Island and Happy Days. So, he sat me down.  Not 100% sure what we were going to do next he asked me a key question. He said “if money was not an issue, what would you love to do every day for work?” My answer? “I’d write and teach others to approach a self-sufficient lifestyle with peace and comfort in mind instead of panic and suffering.” My hubby paused for a moment and then said, “Then do it. I’ll take care of the bills. You do what you love. At least one of us will be totally happy.”  (Now that’s LOVE for ya!) He was right. I was happy and no one could get in the way of that because I wasn’t held hostage by any advertisers or customers. I could stay focused and true to what I really wanted to do. I’ve never felt more liberated and the funny thing that I discovered was that there’s always a way to earn a living doing what you love to do. With that attitude, we chose to learn from our complacency and never repeat those mistakes again; we moved forward; and we’ve really never had to suffer “without” since then.
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