A Man Without Goals is a Man Without Success

My grandmother was quite fond of the above saying. Having survived through the Depression, which to me is amazing in itself, she often had sayings about surviving and living within your means. I was taught that if I don't have goals, no matter how humble, I will end up being someone who just sort of drifts through life, taking whatever circumstances I fall into.

I'm so glad that she taught all us grandkids that success isn't just measured in monetary terms. As we look ahead to New Year's and make those resolutions, remember that success means achieving your goal. Whether you want to lose 10 pounds or start college or advance in your career, having a goal gives you something to push for. Planning on how you will get there gives you the roadmap.

If your goal is to lose 10 pounds, break it down into little steps. Set a target date, say April 15. On income tax day you'll be glad you have a success to celebrate instead of bemoaning how much of your hard-earned money Uncle Sam took away from you. Set a goal to lose 4 pounds by February 1. Then go for 3  pounds by March 1. That's 7 pounds. Lose those last 3 by April 15.

You know why most people fail at their resolutions? They fail to write it down. That's it. Write it down, whether on your computer or on a post-it you stick to the bathroom mirror. Make it measurable numerically. Don't just say "lose weight." And give yourself both major deadlines and little mini-deadlines to keep you on track. I'm writing mine down on my calendar, where I can see what I need to do each week and each month. Checking those off is rewarding and lets you see how much closer you are.

What are your goals for 2012? How do you plan to achieve them? Go write them down and map them out. Share them with family or friends so you have an accountability buddy.

Have a safe and Happy New Year!

Merry Christmas!!

Hope everyone has a wonderful and Merry Christmas! Also Happy New Year.....I love looking forward to a new and better year. It's the chance to start over, remake  yourself, tackle a goal or work towards a dream.  You just have to jump in with both feet and make it happen. Never let anyone shoot down your dreams and aspirations, and always remember......

If you ain't the lead dog, the scenery never changes.

Count Your Blessings

You're Never Too Old to Learn

You've got to see this....below is a link to a precious lady's blog I found out about. You won't believe it, but she is 101 years old! That's right......and she has a blog that I love reading. She was in the paper about a computer class being taught in her assisted living. This is so inspiring. Miss Betty is also a writer, takes writing classes, and loves to read. I need to meet her. She could probably help me with my blog!

Here's the link, so read and enjoy!


http://goodykoon.wordpress.com/

I Got My Easy-Bake Oven 30 Years Late

Christmas is coming....the magical time of year when children are focused on Santa and the gifts they hope to receive. When I was a kid, I remember when I was six that I got a chalkboard (so I could practice being a teacher), a baby doll, a Barbie doll (what a mixed message that sends nowadays! Barbie has practically turned into a hooker, and don't get me started on the Bratz dolls....), a microscope so I could look at things (we found out 2 years later that I was nearsighted as a goose. It's a wonder I passed first grade), a sleeping bag (I camped out once in my life in a tent with a huge rock under my back, freezing all night), and a train set (which dad enjoyed 'helping' me with).

But for all the wonderful treasures I got.....I mean these were REAL toys that required that I physically interact or do something to get the fun out of them.....I did not get the one cherished item I had wished harder than anything for......an Easy-Bake Oven. You know, you hold a teaspoon of cake batter under a light bulb in a cute plastic box that looks just like mom's oven and then poof! Like magic, you have a wonderful cake the size of a quarter. Of course, the ad on TV seen through my (blind) child's eyes envisioned a full-sized cake like my grandmother made.

For many years after I was a little older, we laughed and joked about it. It was then forgotten until I was thirty-something and in nursing school. My parents reasoned that "well, you have everything you need and if you want something, we just go buy it nowadays instead of lusting for it for six months" during Christmas that year. So when gift-opening time arrived (yay! I still love presents! I'm a girl and a kid at heart-oh and wrap it pretty, like  you put your best effort into it so I will think it holds the Hope Diamond or something equally as amazing) I received a giant box. Beautiful paper, nice expensive shiny-sparkly bow in turquoise blue (my fave color)....oh wow, what was it??  A new computer??

Imagine my face when I opened it and saw.......an Easy-Bake Oven!!! I laughed until I almost cried. Well I wasn't about to wait. I plugged that thing in, added a teaspoon of water to the mix and voila! We soon had dried out chunks of tiny little cakes balanced on our fingertips. Dad was impressed that I managed to cook for once without burning the house down. Honestly, I'm convinced that this oven was specially boxed just for me. Santa found it in the back of his workshop many years later.....with the original cake mixes inside.

The Great Oven didn't go to waste, though. (We don't believe in waste). I gave it to a friend in my nursing class to give to her two young daughters. They had no clue what it was. The youngest one was trying to figure out if it was a computer or something.

Reminds me of my cousin, who's a couple of years older than I am. When her daughter was about eight, she came to mom's office and discovered the old IBM Selectric typewriter in the corner. We thought we'd hit the big time when we bought it. After all, it had two fonts when you changed the ball out. I think they were Pica and Elite. The child was mesmerized, so mom put some paper in and typed a sentence so she could see how it worked.

She turned to her mom and exclaimed, "Mom, we need to get one of these! That's better than your computer because it comes out right then. You don't have to wait on it to print out."

Sometimes I think the old stuff was better.

Southern Diva Words of Wisdom: Free Books!!!

Southern Diva Words of Wisdom: Free Books!!!: This is so cool! Paperback Swap (see link on left) lets you list your unwanted books and swap for ones you want. I've only been on there a f...

Pretty in Pink

Fall is a time of change, so I'm changing the look of Southern Diva Words of Wisdom! I'm playing around with the new pink color, and hope to be making some major tweaks in the upcoming weeks. I'm open for any suggestions or help....I'm definitely not a techie! This is kinda like telling me to build myself a car so I can go to town when I would just as soon ride a bike or catch the bus :)

Another Southern Diva

I've been following one of my fave bloggers on Twitter. Check out http://TheSingleWoman.net/. This Nashville Diva tells it like it is with funny, true perspectives on life, men, singlehood and lots more. She would have done my Aunt Rene proud. Aunt Rene was a southern diva who was just a few years (okay, decades) ahead of time.

Kindle Fire!!

I'm treating myself to this for Christmas! I can't live without my trusty K2...truly one of the best things ever invented. The Kindle Fire promises to be a big step up. I'm excited about color! I had been debating whether or not I wanted a Nook, and I'm glad I put off buying one. Basic Kindles are now becoming way more affordable. Much as I love paper books, in the future I see myself buying fewer of them, unless it's a photo-rich book or a coffee-table book I want to display. Look at all the weight I'll save when I travel. I vote for the Nobel Peace Prize to go to its creator.

I'm Always the Brokest the Day Before Payday

Only this week, I've gotten an early start!! How is it that 15 years ago, I made half what I do now, and managed a car payment, a higher mortgage payment, and still did just fine? Fast forward to present times, and the mortgage is lower, the car is paid for (thank God), but...hmmm....where does all my money go?? Money talks, allright. Mine is always saying "bye bye." I noticed my sneaky trash pickup service raised their quarterly rate by almost $7 this billing cycle! Didn't bother to tell anyone, either. Maybe they thought I wouldn't notice. Trust me, I track every penny. I'm online every day balancing my checkbook and searching for any bank errors in my favor.

Then there's the wonderful health insurance. I now pay $246.00 a month. Less than two years ago I paid $168.00 and griped about it. It's never good when you get those official-looking letters from your insurance company or cable company. They always start with, "As you know the cost of providing our services to you in these economic times....bla bla bla." Stop reading  and save the time. That's their way of trying to soften the blow of another price increase.

You know one way companies could save a LOT of money, and pass those savings along to you and me?? I do all my banking online. Why do they waste trees, postage, ink and printing costs to mail me those stupid flyers every month or so telling me that they respect my privacy?? I freakin' hope so!! You shouldn't feel the need to reassure me of that all the time. I just see that as more corporate waste that I'm getting to pay for. Yet these same companies moan and whine about their expenses. Big corporations waste thousands of dollars a year on printing stuff that everyone throws away without reading. What happened to common sense? You have these people with fancy job titles making big money thinking of stupid ways to spend the company's money that ends up costing us consumers in the end. I have a keen eye for corporate waste and excess, and I see it every day when I go into a business or store. Look around your work place. Do you see things they could save money on, without cutting your pay or not giving you yearly raises? I bet you do.

Saving on Electricity

Check this out for tons of ideas on how to not faint when the power bill comes: http://michaelbluejay.com/electricity/

I've just glanced over it, but looks like there is a lot of good advice there. I remember when I was a kid, my aunt would complain about her outrageous power bill. I think it was all of $16 back then. You can't even run a refrigerator for a month on that. I cringe at work when people talk about power bills that run more than my house payment! If that happened to me, I'd be living naked under the bridge near work. That's a scary thought!!

Free Books!!!

This is so cool! Paperback Swap (see link on left) lets you list your unwanted books and swap for ones you want. I've only been on there a few days and have already ordered a book and sent one out. The books are free;  you just pay shipping by media mail, which is much less than the cost of a paperback. Great way to save money, save trees and do the "green thing." Check it out!

The Help....Another Must Read

I've wanted to read this book, but now I want to read it even more. There was a great interview yesterday in the Birmingham News with a lady from Montgomery who is slated to play in the movie. Her mother was a real-life housekeeper to white people in the 70's and 80's. Even as late as the 1980's, the discrimination she faced was unreal. I felt like I was reading something from 100 years ago as I read how some of her employers treated her. Back then, the African-Americans who were hired help to the whites couldn't exactly easily file a discrimination lawsuit. How would they prove it? The interview just whetted my desire to read the book and see the movie even more. Hopefully Friday's payday will see a few things on my Amazon wish list come off the wish list and land in my shopping cart!! If anyone has read it yet, let me know what you think.

Happy Birthday to Me!!

OK, I'm convinced Mother Nature has screwed up her calendar! I'm not this old.....why, just yesterday my family was amazed by the invention of the Polaroid camera. It actually developed the picture while you looked at it. Of course, it was always way too dark, but still....instant pics, just like magic. I have many high school friends and others my age who have grandkids. How can they?? We're not that old.


Every year on my birthday, I follow the same ritual (which began when I was about 30-something). I run straight to the mirror, and spend a good 10 minutes examining my face for signs of aging. Is there a slight crease there that wasn't there yesterday? Did I sprout a mustache overnight? Hmmm....that wrinkle looks a little deeper today than it did last week. Uh-oh, my crow's feet look more like ostrich footprints. Is that a new freckle from using those wonderful shiny silver tanning blankets back when I was in high school? Complete with the baby oil/betadine combo to assure a deep, dark tropical tan.

So after you hit 30....then 40....things slow down. Every day you get up and another body part seems to have fallen off or malfunctioned. You know where every clean restroom is for a 50-mile radius. Your list of doctors has their own section in your cell phone. You start counting down till you can claim that "you're 50 and you're old so we give you a discount" that some stores offer. You wondered why granny always complained about her back hurting, or her knees, or the arthritis in her gnarled hands. Now you know. A child has no perception at all of what pain is. You just can't fathom foot pain until you've had it. If you want to find out what it's like, I highly recommend a career in nursing. Just a few short years of 12+ hour shifts on your feet, and you will have it, along with a bonus of swollen feet and those funny little spider veins. Your feet will look like a roadmap of Los Angeles. But it is excellent bladder training. You learn to hold it until you sit down (for the first time) at 4:00 to eat lunch. You also learn to eat when you're not hungry, just because it's convenient. Now you know why nurses wear elastic waist scrubs. It's a growing profession in more ways than one.

Time to go to bed. Yes, I'm a year older....but it sure does beat the alternative!!

There's more in managing than making

This little pearl of wisdom is from Nannie, my grandmother. You know, the best way to learn about how to make your bucks go further is to talk to someone who lived through the Depression (btw, we're in one now in case you haven't noticed. It's simple....I look at my checkbook and I get depressed). She could squeeze a penny till Lincoln cried. She and Pop, my grandfather, never owed a penny of debt to anyone. They had a simple philosophy-if you can't pay cash for it, you can't afford it.

Now people seem to love living beyond their means, although the new economy has put a bit of a bite in that. Wonder why there are so many foreclosed homes in nice neighborhoods? Half-built neighborhoods where the builder went belly-up, leaving behind a skeleton of half-built homes? People upside-down with their mortgages, one paycheck away from the poor house? It's the same principle of why some of these millionaire athletes can't live on $10 million a year. I'm sorry, if you can't manage your money any better than that, and you go bankrupt when you're making those kind of bucks, I don't feel sorry for you. You got what ya deserved for being such a dumb ass. Here's a hint....just because you have $10 million, you don't go out and spend $11 million on a house, car, and airplane and then whine when the repo man comes and takes it all back.

Since I work hard for my money, I'd rather manage it better than have to go work even more. So I'm going to go cut out a few coupons and make a grocery list. Just remember, before you splurge on those hot new shoes that are going to kill your feet and give you bunions, just how hard did you have to work at a job you may not exactly love to pay for them?? Are they worth the workplace politics, office drama, and Atilla the Hun boss you deal with to earn the bucks to buy them?

Want to retire rich?

My best advice is it's NEVER too early to start saving! Forget about waiting till you graduate college and get a good job (good luck in this market!) and make enough $$$ so that you can actually afford to participate in whatever paltry retirement plan is available. Unless you want to live out your elder years living naked under a bridge, you better start saving up when you're about six or so. No joke. All that money you get for your birthday, Christmas, doing chores or whatever, save it for Pete's sake!! No excuses. After all, you are hardly paying the electric bill or buying groceries when you're not even old enough to drive.

Now that I've determined I will never be able to afford retirement, I have to decide if I want to work till I'm 92 (the average age at which the women in my family tend to live to) or just jump off a bridge tomorrow, LOL. I've always said I'm always the brokest the day before payday. Must go cut out some coupons now so I can buy groceries this week.

Now go save some money!!

Is fat free making us fat???

Just couldn't help but notice as I once again passed the Shrine of Krispy Kreme....have ya'll noticed since all the food manufacturers came out with fat-free food, that our fannies are getting larger and larger? Adds new meaning to the phrase "full moon." Of course, it could be that taking out the fat requires adding a boatload of sugar to make it taste decent. And fat helps make you feel full.....so if you eat only fat-free stuff, you'll never feel full.

Just something to ponder.

You Can't Make a Silk Purse Out of a Sow's Ear....

but you sure can work with what raw materials you already have!!  Thank you, Aunt Rene, for one of my favorite sayings of all times. I plan next week to order the new Firm Express workout I saw on tv. I was a fan of the The Firm waaay back in the day (think VHS and the late 80's). Killer workouts with weights and aerobics mixed. Yes, they kicked your tail, but you could tell you had done a great workout.

Face it, after 40 (or even 30) you just can't eat Krispy Kremes and stay thin forever. Every year, it gets harder and harder. No matter what, your metabolism WILL betray you at some point, unless you get one of those terrible wasting diseases. I'd rather be 10 pounds overweight and healthy, thank you.

A Diva W.O.W Welcome!

Welcome to Diva W.O.W, AKA Words of Wisdom! I'm a Southern Diva, sharing my words of wisdom with you. Although many of my WOWs come from experience, I make no claims or guarantees as to the accuracy, safety, effectiveness, or validity of any wisdom shared here. I can only guarantee that the WOWs shared come straight from the heart of experience and that no animals were harmed in the making. Other than the (hopefully) occasional laugh, the use of this site does not guarantee a better job, more friends, a richer life, or fewer wrinkles.

Welcome aboard! Keep hands and other body parts inside the ride at all times. And don't forget to exit through the gift shop (under construction).