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Week 11

I really enjoyed this weeks readings and videos. I particularly enjoyed listening to Randy Komisar. I loved his explanation about a balanced life. He said a lot of us look at it like a pendulum and if the ball of the pendulum is pretty much centered than we have a balanced life. But he said that what we need to realize is that sometimes the ball is going to be off to one side or the other and that's okay as long as it doesn't stay there permanently (at least that's how I interpret it). I think that this is such a great view. We need to look at it with a longer perspective. Balance is something that I have been trying to figure out as I have been going to school. I feel like if I am focusing more on school, the house tends to suffer, but if I focus on the house then my school work suffers. I need to stop looking at it as a one or the other thing and realize that right now, school is a bigger priority than the house and it's ok! School is not going to last forever. Seriously, listening to Komisar talk about balance made me feel so much better about a lot of things.

I also really enjoyed listening to Corey Bell. He talked about living a life without regrets. I think that this was another thing that I needed to hear today. There are things that I want to do, but I worry about actually doing them (mostly about being able to keep balance). I think that it is important to try and fulfill your dreams so that you don't have regret. Between the Komisar talking about balance and Bell talking about living without regret, it has really made me reevaluate some of the things I would love to do, and I think that they gave me the push to go for it.

In terms of money, I think money is important to a degree. I feel that Heavenly Father wants us to be able to live at least a comfortable life and to be generous people. I think the more generous we are (within reason) with his children, we see the blessings come back to us. My husband and I are still working on becoming more financially sound, but we both have good examples from our parents. Several years after my dad was bishop of our ward, I was asking him how welfare in the church worked. He was explaining that he had a budget to work with and that there were some rules that he needed to follow. It was then that he disclosed that there were times that he would help people out financially from his own pocket because there was nothing left and he couldn't see people go without necessities. I never knew this until I was an adult (he was bishop while I was a teenager/young adult). It taught me to be more generous with my offerings. This fits perfectly with rule #6 of prospering: "Do not send away the naked, the hungry, the thirsty or the sick or those who are held captive." I really do think that this is extremely important. As I mentioned above, as we are generous with those around us the Lord is even more generous with us.

The other rules are:
Rule 1. Seek the Lord and have hope in him
Rule 2. Keep the commandments, that includes the temporal ones, tithing and fast offerings.
Rule 3. Think about money and plan how you can become self-reliant.
Rule 4. Take advantage of chances for learning so you will not be ignorant of these matters. Education, as President Hinckley has taught us, is the Key to Opportunity.
Rule 5. Learn the laws upon which the blessings of wealth are predicated.

I think that each of these are important as we seek to succeed financially in this life. I think it is important to not be afraid of money. More problems will come if you try to avoid it or avoid your bills. It is better to face it head on so you know where you are at.

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