Good morning! I realize it’s been a while since my last post. A lot has happened and I admittedly got thrown off course a bit. Believe it or not, I’ve had my next article drafted and ready for nearly two weeks, but while waiting for the opportunity to snap the perfect header image photo, I became sick with a sinus infection and laryngitis which is ironic for the topic of the drafted article – self care. I’ll get it posted next, but for now I feel like this one is more appropriate for what’s going on today.

On May 11, my hubby, Curtis, hit a nasty pothole in the road that caused him to fall off his double stacker ‘tall bike’, landing on his right elbow, fracturing it and beginning his temporary unemployment.

So, we kicked off our summer as a single income family with no short-term insurance to fall back on. First of all, I’d like to make a strong recommendation to anyone reading this. If you have short-term disability insurance benefits available to you, sign up for them. If you don’t, then seriously consider purchasing an Aflac accident policy. We had one; however, after I left my previous employer and became fully self-employed in December 2017, I inadvertently let the one I’d been paying on for two years for this exact circumstance, lapse. Busy with my new business partnership and relocating my massage practice, I allowed this ‘little’ thing to fall through the cracks. These policies are worth the investment and it would have saved us more than $6,000 and a lot of heartache. And, if you have a lifestyle full of adventure like ours, it will provide you peace of mind while you play.

It’s incredible how money, or lack thereof, affects every aspect of life – physically and emotionally. I allowed my regret over the lapsed insurance policy to eat at me and I knew we had to shift our perspective. So, we began a family journal, documenting the things, people and experiences we were grateful for each day. Our goal was to stay in a constant attitude of gratitude. It’s easy to allow negativity and fear take over if you’re not actively finding the beauty in life.

We also started a list of things Curtis could do around the house. Many of these things were tasks that were easy to overlook while working full time so one-by-one each day, he would mark things off the list giving him a sense of accomplishment and saving the household money on repairs. A penny saved is a penny earned, right? 🙂 We were also very grateful for friends and family members who provided him with odd jobs to help supplement grocery and entertainment spending so our quality of life wasn’t completely interrupted.

Luckily, I had also followed some great advice from our financial advisor, Stephen Evans, years ago and had an emergency nest egg saved up. This little savings helped us pay for our already planned family vacation and living expenses for what would become more than two months. Curtis was also able to take a loan out against his 401(k) to keep us from completely depleting our savings, thanks to guidance from John Truman.

Yesterday, he was given the full release to be able to back to work with no restrictions and today is his first day back! When he texted me from the doctor’s office yesterday morning, I immediately began to cry and the relief I felt knowing we are now able to get back on track financially was overwhelming. The visual of a frog sitting in slowly warming water came to mind. I had been overworking myself while still doing my best to maintain my own health priorities and until yesterday, I didn’t realize the true amount of stress I was under until it was lifted off of me.

We’ve learned so much throughout this experience and it became so clear to me how so many in our country are seriously only a paycheck or two away from financial catastrophe, especially when they don’t have access to benefits and support networks like we have. We’ve also learned to see the silver linings more than ever before. Not only were we blessed that he didn’t fall into traffic making the injuries life-threatening, but he and our daughter were able to spend a lot of quality time together this summer. He was also able to have extra time with his family in Texas which limited vacation time doesn’t permit.

Most importantly, I learned that I can always do more than I think I can. Two months ago, I had no idea I’d be able to support our family on a self-employed massage therapy income, but I did. We did. Never underestimate your power and your inner strength and always know that this too shall pass – whatever it is – and don’t compromise your own self-care to make ends meet. You can’t take care of others if you don’t take care of yourself.