The Bucked Cowpoke!
“My little cowpoke tried to rope the recliner and was less than successful when the coffee table she was riding bucked her”. Those were the words that came out of my mouth when my oldest daughter and I were at the doctor’s office to have an assumed broken arm mended. Not only did those words bring a smile to the doctor’s face, but they were a balm to an already apprehensive little girl. After a couple of x-rays and a few days in a soft, long-arm splint, her arm was immobilized in a green fiberglass cast that covered just beyond her elbow. Was in necessary to immobilize the elbow? Not necessarily for the traditional healing processes; however, I have a bold cowpoke on my hand who would not let a little cast get in her way – much like her beloved Uncle Josh!
While the family was getting ready for church on Sunday, my bride and I caught one of our kids come out with what certainly looked like a shirt that was to small. We made the standard request - “Arms out straight and then put your arms up straight.” Yes, indeed, the sleeves are too short and your belly button is peering out like a cyclops’s eye peering out over his territory! At that moment, my oldest daughter walked by and I sarcastically asked her to do the same because we all needed some comedic relief. While smiling and laughing, she had her left arm straight as an arrow, while her right arm was bent at 90 degrees. Although there is something to be said about the value of our Sunday morning humor, I think the cast over my daughter’s arm can make a pretty reasonable analogy to our personal finances.
Now I understand that all analogies break down at some point, but I do want you to take a journey with me for a moment. No matter the type of fracture – simple or compound – broken bones are painful. The pain exists to force us to be gentle with our body to help us heal. Doctors put broken limbs in hard casts to immobilize and protect the bone from impacts or other use and abuse. After a short season of modified mobility and capability, the broken bones heal and the cast is removed. In the ideal setting we walk away from the experience smarter than we were before and we don’t make the same mistakes.
Now lets look at personal finance. The broken bone is like the spendthrift who has no foresight of tomorrow’s concerns. When their own money runs out, they turn to credit cards, personal loans, or other lenders to fuel the lack of discipline… until the easy money is not so easy anymore. When the spendthrift reaches their bottom, they reach to books, classes, peers, or a coach for help. If the solution is worth their advice, a budget will be introduced along with a defined plan to payoff the incurred debt. Just like the doctor estimating the recovery time in the cast, the plan should identify a finite time to eliminate the debt. The budget can and should limit your movement! It is supposed to! But after a season of discipline, the restriction becomes freedom. You read that correctly – FREEDOM! The discipline that the budget forced you to develop – after the debt is gone – allows you to give, save, and spend in ways you never thought possible. That is a PROMISE.
Questions to Ponder
We all at times are spendthrifts. Yes, even those who have a pretty robust budget. We all have different thresholds for the financial suffering that we can create for ourselves and those that are closest to us.
Is 2023 the year that you need to acknowledge your broken financial habits?
Just as we go to a doctor for help, who do you admire that has created the discipline to live in financial freedom that would be willing to teach you how to create habits that are worth following?
What habits do you need to eliminate to successfully manage your money well and payoff all of your debt – for keeps!
To build your strength, which influencers do you need to ignore in order to develop a power over your purchases?
Rest assured, we all have heard somebody in our lives claim that the first step on the road to recovery is an acknowledgement that something is broken and no longer manageable. I want to encourage you today to take the first steps forward to change your future forever.
This is in gratitude and admiration for my Ropin’ Cowpoke!
P.S. It doesn’t matter to what extent we have spoken in the past, I am here to serve as your resource with ideas, mindsets, and processes to mend broken finances and areas that broken finances influence. Get in touch if you want a no judgement, unbiased approach to move yourself forward.