Category Archives: Money

FollowCraig: Oh God!

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Before I get to far ahead let’s talk some about faith. I never had it! Really! I was brought up in the Mormon church and never gave any of this much thought. It was assumed that after high school I would participate in a church mission then marry a good Mormon girl and have lots of children. Sounds easy enough doesn’t it? Well that didn’t happen for me as I was a bit of a rebel when I was young. Going my own path would be for me and that I did. I left home when I was about 18 years old and moved to Arizona to live with my father. My dad was not a religious man so it was refreshing not to be attending church all the time. I’m pretty sure it was then that my agnostic point of view took shape. It was easy to just not really participate in any church, religion or faith for the next thirty or so years. Even as a married man with children, I never went to church or introduced my kids to any level of faith teachings. Why bother I would say. Funny thing though? Faith was always surrounding me wherever I would be. As a salesman faith and faith principles would be taught in most sales training classes. People at work would talk about their faith, always on television I would hear it. Faith and God were always around me but I would not jump in. I just didn’t want to talk about it, it was uncomfortable! Once while attending a sales seminar we attendees were told to draw a wheel with eight spokes.

20120626-154011.jpgSo I drew one like this, then we were told to mark the spokes from 1-10 rating our own life experiences, then connect the dots. Needless to say when it came to the spiritual spoke my wheel was very flat on one side.

I really knew for a long time this part of my life was not in balance, what was not known by me was the effect this imbalance would have on my life to come.

All this talk of faith became very important as my activity in the 12 Steps of Alcoholic’s anonymous became part of my life. Earlier I wrote of reading the Bible when I first stopped drinking. Believe me, I found it an interesting book of incredible stories. So many people say it’s hard to read and perhaps that’s true. However I struggled through it every night for a couple of months then read it a second time and it was much easier to understand. Reading this book really did not lead me to my faith however. I just knew it was time for me to decide what I believed. Was I to believe that no God existed, or that no higher power surrounds us? That was just not possible for me, I really could not accept an atheist position. So if I believed in a higher power, should I have faith? Well yes faith made sense to me. After all someone or something had been watching over me all these years. After all the screw ups in my life, my wrongs, my lies, my craziness. I was still here and pretty healthy at that, so I knew about faith. Now it was only a matter of deciding whether or not to accept and celebrate my faith. To take one last leap of faith on my own to believe that God was real or not. Oh the proof of this can easily disputed if one wants, but I always had this one question that still haunts me. A question that no scientist can really answer? The one thing that makes me believe that a God exits. That question is; “how do we know to breathe?”

Only a higher power can decide that. Knowing that, I chose to practice my believe as a Christian and celebrate as a Lutheran. I did indeed take a leap of faith and was baptized into the Christian faith at a Wisconsin Synod of the Lutheran Church in all places the heart of Mormon land “Salt Lake City, Utah“. It felt Great!

For me and I can only really speak to that, I found freedom. My eight spoke wheel of life wasn’t so flat anymore. My life got easier, it really did and has.

My first and second year of sobriety was only a beginning of the tests to come. My relationships with my friends, my family, my children and all those I knew would be affected by choices I would make. As I have learned over these years is that many people care about each of us just as we care about many people ourselves. They all want the best for us and make every effort. But until we decide for ourselves to surrender our self-centered behavior and begin to have faith our lives will never be peaceful. We will never be able to lend a helping hand up to those we care about without doing this for ourselves.

As I talk more about my times and trials to come it should become clear I am still learning these lessons everyday of my life.

You’re still reading, I’m still writing, so please keep following……

Craig

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FollowCraig: “Re-action” vs “Pre-action”

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We all have heard it, be pro-active or pre-active. Here I am 60 years old and I finally heard so I understand. Think of it this way, when you plan ahead for an event like a party, wedding, etc., if your plan is good and you’re pro-active enough in the choices you make for food, caterers, music and such the event will likely go well. If on the other hand you wait till the last-minute to order the cake, food, entertainment or whatever it may very well cost you more money and a lot of stress? This applies to our weight, our health, the way we drive and in just about everything we do. Do you like to stress about this kind of stuff? I sure don’t! Crazy as it sounds I do this all to often, especially when it come to financial obligations. Waiting till the last-minute to pay a bill always causes stress and very often costs more money in the form of fees or interest penalties. When I am pre-active in these matters I have no stress. Just like when I walk each day and think to plan my meals I am healthier and experience less stress about my weight. So I suggest we all remember this;

“Re-action always costs more than Pre-action, always!”

Just another Craig’ism..

I’m still writing, you’re still reading, so please keep following…….

Craig

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FollowCraig: Surefire Way to Truly Get Out of Debt

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This is a very well written post about debt. Just thought I would share…Craig

The Surefire Way to Truly Get Yourself Out of Debt.

Integrity

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Another must read from John Burton

jpburtongroup's avatarJohn Page Burton

Abraham Lincoln was a man who seemed to be very concerned with character and he was certainly a person who understood the importance of having a solid reputation. He once explained the difference between being of good character and having a good reputation. “Character is like a tree and reputation is like its shadow. The shadow is what we think of it, the tree is the real thing.” Stated another way, your reputation is what people think of you and your character is who you really are.

We live in a very image driven world. It is easy to get caught up in maintaining the “right” image and subsequently losing sight of our character. Our reputation is a public relations function while our character is based on our morals and values. As leaders we must exhibit a strong persona but this persona must be grounded in integrity and action. Far…

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FollowCraig: Mad Men

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I sure have a character flaw when it comes to men and women in business. It makes me wonder if I’m the only one? Please don’t get me wrong as I love women and especially smart strong women. They have a lot to carry on their shoulders that’s for certain. And I admire so many because they do what I can’t. I just cannot seem to discuss business matters with most women, I get frustrated and take many of their comments as personal attacks even when they are not. My defensive side come up almost always when trying to work with most. I have had people say about me that I can’t stand dealing with women in power and I think those statements may hold some truth. I only wish to say to all the women out there who are reading this, it’s not personal. Men like me are very difficult for many of you to work with and some of us “mad men” types know it. So to all of you wonderful, smart and strong women I will until my dying day; continue to work on removing that flaw with God‘s help.

I’m still writing, you’re still reading, so please keep following…….

Craig

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FollowCraig: “Wounds & Doorways”

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Writing a BLOG is surely a way of opening up both wounds and doorways. Friends, family and foes begin to find you and all about you. I’m finding old friends are so thrilled to see you again. Someone sends a note; is that you Craig, remember me Craig? It’s a wonderful feeling to hear from old friends. The following family; Many seem to follow along quietly and learn about you, perhaps even judge, others read along and begin to understand you and some actually learn to care for you. Sometimes some even learn how much I love and care for them. Then the foes; It does not matter what your past we all have one and our foes will find us. I have even found many of those foes to be me. Yes writing a BLOG about one’s life journey is perhaps risky. All you’re thoughts, your history, your life’s actions and more are played out for the world to read. Not like the Thurman Show, but none the less an open doorway for those who wish to look through. I hope and pray that the stories I tell of my ordinary journey will help someone else choose their own life paths more wisely than I, or even once in a while be inspired by my faith and great joy of being alive.

It’s Memorial Weekend and I pray you spend time with loved one’s and remember those who gave so much. Thanks for following…..

Craig

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FollowCraig: Who are you?

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I’ve been wondering lately, who am I? Some people never forget their roots and always seem to have a strong footing in the foundation of their youth. I wonder why some habits never go away and some character flaws remain? Where did they come from? When I was a kid, I seem to remember not really having the life some of my friends had. Oh my family was a good one and my life was by no means sad, it’s just that I never really found myself. I didn’t like sports much, but neither did my folks? We really didn’t go to church much until my mother re-married. Both my mom and dad worked, my mom was a secretary and dad was always trying to run a business. The last was a service station in Pasadena, Ca. We always seemed to have money issues, never really broke but always on the edge. Always robbing “Peter to Pay Paul”. My stepfather was a teacher and wished for me to be an architect, my father wanted me to become a lawyer or a CPA. Nobody really asked me what I wanted and I sure was not going to question the grown ups! I had to keep secrets so I wouldn’t get in trouble for what would be just normal stuff. I think my life has been driven by fear of being in trouble for so long, I just don’t know any other way of life. Even today I still live on the financial edge, much like my family did. These are the struggles that make us or at least me. At 60 years old I still have so many flaws when it comes to honesty and secrets. I struggle with fear all the time even when it appears I am at peace. However, for some reason I still have an undying optimism that all will be Great! So who am I? I think I’m human!

You’re still reading, I’m still writing, so please keep following……

Craig

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FollowCraig: Green Demons! “the next day”

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Remember my Green Demons? In short, this is how the following day unfolded. God truly let me sleep and I awoke feeling so rested. So much different from the day before, it was nice. I was still frightened as everything in my life was screwed up! I found myself in my kitchen reading a phone book that seemed to just open to the Alcoholic‘s Anonymous phone number. I really was not looking for that number, it just appeared! So I called, they were nice and gave me an address of a meeting happening that day. After some him-hawing around I got dressed up (shirt & tie) and drove to the noon meeting. The meeting place was at an old run down dive bar on Sahara Blvd in Las Vegas. There were a bunch of motorcycles outside and what looked to me some real lost souls. I will never forget walking in only to see all these people drinking coffee, smoking, talking, playing games and such. Not at all the kind of place I would ever hang out at. What was this place? I’m in a suit and all these people look like biker people. Did I come to the right place? I was shocked to say the least, but I stayed. About noon people began to move thru an open door leading to a room filled with several tables and chairs. A lot of people all taking seats so I finally sat down in the middle of the room. The door closed and the meeting opened. I don’t remember much about the meeting, but I wondered about the list of 12 Steps posted on the wall. People began to introduce themselves and when my turn came, I quietly said I’m Craig and this is my first visit. I was so nervous and no one looked like anyone I would want to visit with. However something kept me sitting there, listening and crying inside. I thought to myself “has life had turned to this, was I one of these low life’s“. When the meeting ended and we were moving out to the common social area a fellow came up to me and just asked if I would like to have a cup of coffee with him? Sure I said, why not? It’s funny now but I don’t remember his name and I have never seen him again. We talked for what seemed like hours, I just opened up and he listened, I cried and he gave me towels for my tears. He never judged me, he just welcomed me. I didn’t feel alone anymore, it was as if some small voice was telling me I would be; OK. As we spoke another fellow stopped by and introduced himself, his name was Bob D. Now he must be the head A.A. person I thought as he was dressed very well, looked like Kenny Rogers and walked with confidence. A very charismatic man, my kind of guy! He gave me his phone number and invited me to a “Speaker Night” the following day. He said I should come, but if not at least call him. I said; OK Bob! When the afternoon was over my head was spinning. What is this A.A.? What about those 12 Steps posted on the wall? Little did I know the path my life would take, the journey to unfold ahead of me?

I’m still writing, you’re still reading, so please keep following…..

Craig

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FollowCraig: Banks & Bedrooms?

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So it’s almost time to elect our next President and the Wall Street gang is making a killing! Watching the daily news and all the various self-appointed financial and political analysts bring such unrest within me. I can’t help but wonder how some financial groups like Bank of America, JP Morgan and so many others can play monopoly with our citizens money? While some political groups care so much more about our bedrooms? We have those who profess to be Democrats, some Republicans, some Independents and don’t forget the Tea Party! Oh, and I love this one: “We are a Christian Nation“. Sometimes our Great Country just seems nuts! Whatever happened to; “We the People“? How is it that our leaders, our congress and our courts have forgotten what our nation is about? Our government was created by “We the People” to establish rules and guidelines to be equally fair to all people. To protect us; yes each of us from injustice and harm. To be one nation providing domestic tranquility and to promote the general welfare and secure the blessings of liberty to our people. Today in our political climate there are those who are much more interested in our privacy, the life we live in our own bedrooms than the protection of our people. How has this happened? Have we become so complacent, so wrapped up in our daily lives that we just don’t pay attention and just go on with our lives as if all is well? My parents and those I grew up with said; “never talk politics or religion”! I say today why not? This year when we vote and I do scream “Go Vote”, let’s really listen to what these candidates say and what they stand for. Ask this question. Do they stand with; We the People or Bankers & Bedrooms?

You’re still reading, I’m still writing, so please keep following…….

Craig

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FollowCraig: Garage Sale

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It’s Saturday morning and today is, “Garage Sale Day!” That’s a big day here in Glen Cove, California. You see, we have over 3000 people in our community and once a year our residents sign up to have their address posted on a map pointing to theirs and all the Garage Sales happening today in Glen Cove. It’s so very cool, people are emptying the garage, neighbors are talking and others are buying. One man’s junk is another man’s treasure, and today no truer statement could be said. It reminds me of the times in my life as a career salesman, when I could not sell enough cars to pay the bills, I would sell the bicycles, the lamps, the furniture and more. My life seemed a constant Garage Sale. My final Garage Sale came and went about 9 years ago and I didn’t get a single dollar. That’s the day and time I cleaned the crap up inside of myself and started anew. Just like Glen Cove every year I stop, clean up the stuff that’s gathered in my life and get rid of it! I guess that’s why this annual event here is so intriguing, it’s not random but rather focused. I Like that!

I’m still writing, you’re still reading, so please keep following…..

Craig

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