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Have you ever wondered how to budget effectively without beating your head against the wall?  I tried it a few times over the years, but I decided that I just wan’t the “type” of person to follow a budget.  Of course, year after year I found that I continued to live month to month without a plan.

A couple years ago my wife and I were invited to attend a 13-part video program (recorded from a live seminar) called “Financial Peace University” by Dave Ramsey.   It was touted (by family who attended) to be the best thing for people who’s finances are ‘out of control’.

At the time, money was too tight for us to fork out $125.00 for the program, but local attendees of Financial Peace University in past years had an unofficial pay-it-forward plan, so to speak.  The organizers had pooled contributions from generous individuals and offered it up to people who were genuinely interested in learning to budget, but didn’t have the funds.  After all, these are the people that need it the most.

We accepted the opportunity with gratitude and attended (most) every class.  Surprisingly, we found Dave to be quite humorous and very sensible in his approach to achieving Financial Peace. Near the beginning of the course we received a kit with a 13 CD pack of the entire course, the Financial Peace University hardcover book, and a custom envelope system which you can start using right away.

Dave takes you step by step through the entire process, including but not limited to; managing finances, paying bills, building an emergency fund, education fund, retirement fund, and so on.

If financial peace is something that you need in your life, Financial Peace University is a game changer. There’s no doubt about it.

To get a taste of what you may see on the FPU video program, view this short clip on youtube.com  http://youtu.be/oLX3wUY1xGg or visit the FPU home page at http://www.daveramsey.com/fpu

Recently, while preparing for my second speech at Toastmasters on the topic of adversity, I came across a video shot in 2009 and posted on ted.com.  The speaker’s name was Aimee Mullins, an actress, a motivational speaker, and a model — she’s also an amputee.

After just a few minutes into her 22 minute presentation, I found myself immersed in her message, and then the following words rolled off her tongue…

Implicit in this phrase of overcoming adversity is the idea that success or happiness is about emerging on the other side of a challenging experience unscathed or unmarked by the experience.  As if my successes in life have come about from an ability to side step or circumnavigate the presumed pitfalls of a life with prosthetics or what other people perceive as my disability.

She went on to explain how adversity is something that we should embrace in life, and pass this message along to children facing the challenges of adversity today.

Adversity isn’t an obstacle that we need to get around in order to resume living our life – it’s part of our life.

Her speech was so passionate that when she finished, I felt disadvantaged for not having the opportunity to have overcome some major obstacle in my own life.

About this blog:
I enjoy sharing stories that promote inspiration, motivation, and health & wellbeing in all areas.  I will, on occasion, re-post articles from other web sites as well as share my own thoughts. I encourage people to leave comments on any of these posts, or contact me to share articles that they would like to see posted.