Do It Yourself (D.I.Y)!

I believe one of the simplest but most important tips to achieve financial independence is ‘spend less than you learn’. Do you agree? If you do so, D.I.Y will certainly help you to achieve ‘spend less’.

 

As a story teller (labelled by my husband), I cannot miss this story to tell you. One of my colleagues who has been looking after her finance quite well during her working life so soon be able to comfortably retire (unlikely to others) told me about her niece who wishes to live like her one day. Her niece is constantly having a financial problem even though both, she and her husband are working full time without any kid. How? Why? She doesn’t really know why she cannot save any money and permanently under the financial hammer. To me, the answer is very easy and clear to find. She spends more than what she earns for what she doesn’t need to spend (=waste). Let me tell her spending habits which she thinks fine (and alternatives which I think she should do).

 

·        Built a brand new house with massive mortgage (instead of buying an affordable     house with small mortgage)

·        Going out for lunches and dinners regularly (instead of cooking at home when they are having health issues)

·        Hire a cleaner regularly (D.I.Y)

·        Hire a person for mowing for their small garden regularly (D.I.Y)

·        Hire a person to clean their window regularly (D.I.Y)

·        Hire a person to shampoo her dog regularly (D.I.Y)

 

I don’t think I need to make a longer list to find out why she is permanently broke. I am not sure why she thinks that she deserves to be served by others and paying their services is adequate. However, I am sure where her money is disappearing to and she will never get her aunt’s financial position without changing her attitudes on spending immediately.

 

Current society makes our life getting easier and easier as we can buy anything we want and need. As long as we pay, we can get any services that we possibly imagine nowadays. However, basic rule that I believe is ‘There is nothing for free.’ and the payments can easily eat up our potential savings. Unless you don’t need to worry about money, you need to constantly control your expenses and cut down unnecessary spending to reach financial independence. D.I.Y will definitely be a great help to reduce your expenses and also trust me, it will offer you a special pleasure.

 

Well, it is time to talk about what we did last weekends. One of our tenants moved out a week earlier than she was supposed to so my husband and I decided utilising the paid week for improving our garden studio. The floor pained last year looked awful even though we used quite expensive well-known brand paint so re-painting was out of options and our decision ended up to laying laminated floating floor by ourselves. We have already 4 times of experience in laying timber floors but not by ourselves. We tried very hard to find the best deal to save money but were not brave enough for the D.I.Y. Therefore, it was not a simple decision but we decided to do for five reasons. Saving money, learning new skills, spending weekends productively, spending time together, and enjoy the feeling of accomplishment. 

 

We measured the studio size to figure out how much material we would need and bought them from the local hardware shop which is considerably cheaper than specialised floor shops.

 

As our sub-floor was concrete, we used a damp-proof underlay to avoid humidity and lay along the length of the room. The underlay has adhesive tape on one side so it was quite easy to lay for even beginners like us.

 

We started laying the flooring in one corner, along the longest stretch of wall with the tongue facing to the wall in the same direction as underlay (as we watched videos from YouTube before we started). Placing the plastic spacer blocks to maintain an expansion gap between the panel and the walls edge shouldn’t be ignored. Adjoining the two planks firmly was quite fiddly at the beginning but it got better later on especially my husband’s hammering got more precise.

 

The hardest job was cutting planks in order to avoid splintering the edges but $40 dollar electric jigsaw (wise spending) helped us exceptionally. Finalizing with similar coloured skirting improved the finish of our amateur flooring job and made us proud of ourselves. Kneeling on the floor for a day doubled up my normal knee pain. However, looking at the floor done ‘by us’ simply swiped away the pain.  

 

As a frugal couple, we do most of things ourselves but laying floor was a definitely special experience to us. Whenever we try D.I.Y, we learn heaps of new skills and especially earn ‘self-confidence’ that can help us to deal with any problems. Laying floor was definitely harder than tapping keyboard and looking at excel spreadsheet all day in the office but we felt so much pleasure from what we have achieved.

 

There are many great reasons why I encourage you to try ‘D.I.Y’. Firstly, it is far cheaper than hiring someone and spending a fortune on their services. D.I.Y can offer you priceless rewarding for your effort that went into getting it done. You can also learn many new things and skills that make you self-sufficient. D.I.Y can give you a certain degree of freedom from depending on others’ services and, it is fun to do yourself.

 

Transforming the ugly floor to the stunning looking floor is a great pleasure. Especially, thinking about the money stays in my pocket makes me even happier. Hahaha…

 

Half way to go... looks already far better than before.

 

                                          

Only skirting to finish…  What a great feeling of achievement!

 

 

 

 

Handmade knee protections made by offcut of underlay. Why pay more? J

 

 

 

Milk box can be very useful… It became a cutting board.

 

 

 

Look at this stunning floor. Couldn’t be proud of ourselves more. Maybe we can start doing this for living? J

 

 

 

 

 

 

Learning from Early Retirement Blogs

Recently, I have been constantly educated by popular early retirement blogs (especially, Early Retirement Extreme, Brave New Life, etc…) sent by my husband on a daily basis. Whenever I read their blogs, I cannot stop admiring their special /revolutionary (if these words cover the true meaning of braveness and awareness) mindset. What they try to say and show through their own life is so real that it doesn’t seem to be realistic in our consumerism society but I believe the principle shouldn’t be overlooked.

 

This morning, as a very normal way to start my day at work, I flipped through some interesting stories on the web and I learned about a girl who escaped from North Korea and just started learning a real value of ‘Human Being’. She acknowledged herself as a brainwashed person. Very same moment when I read the word ‘Brainwashed’, I automatically thought about our life path. From the very early age, most of us were brainwashed into believing a ‘good ‘life path is living like majority of people. I have been following the scripted life path (as Jacob described from Early Retirement Extreme) without any questions. Study hard, go to a good University, get a stable job, get married, have kids, work for the family till the retirement age and so on… I was also one of the brainwashed people until we decided to have a 6 month break from the job and travel around world. Frankly, I was very nervous (as much as my colleagues were stunned by my decision) to break the ordinary life path (which believed as a ‘good’ one) and worried what if my decision could damage my life path. I didn’t feel comfortable to stay out of the comfort zone which was made by common perception rather than realistic circumstances. Funny enough, our special (abnormal) decision turned out to be the best decision I have ever made in my life. The unique experience woke me up to re-examine my life. Although I have been perfectly fit into the category of the ordinary (=the best) life path but I couldn’t stop questioning to myself about real value of working life. While I am reading these blogs, I am finding the answers that I have been looking for. The blogs make me feel comfortable by approving my thoughts are neither weird nor inappropriate.

 

One of the most important things I have learnt from the blogs is true value of time. We all know the time we have is limited and most valuable but easily overlooked and exchanged for money (work). The blogs teach me that I shouldn’t waste my time (life) for money (work) unnecessarily. ‘Less money (work) more time (life)’ sounds like a very sweet dream (=hard to achieve), but ‘more work less life’ absolutely horrifies me so I have decided to make my own life path to enjoy the true value of MY LIFE.

 

These blogs commonly talk about ‘Financial Independence (FI)’ and I couldn’t agree more about the importance of FI. How many times we had to postpone or withdraw our wishes because of the financial circumstances. My wish to create my own life path cannot be accomplished without FI and I am glad to know my frugal lifestyle directed me to step toward my goal.

 

What I also learn from them are many tips to reach simple living. Some of tips are quite extreme such as living in a caravan or not using heater at all in winter but what I highly respect is learning the beauty of simple living. Any reason, many people think that buying and having more (better) things can make life better so spend most of their life at work to make more money to have more things. Seriously, do we really need more things to be happier?  I rather spend more time with my loved ones and enjoy my time than work longer to have more stuff. What I learn from my simple life (which is still far away from these gurus) is when I have less, I have less problems and life gets far easier and more enjoyable.

 

What is enough for you? Enough is enough but we all want more and more. These blogs make me rethink about the real meaning of enough. If we don’t know what enough for us is, we never can feel the happiness. Next one we wish is always bigger than previous one, isn’t it? I believe that finding out what is enough for me and my future will truly help to design my own pathway. Do I have enough? Yes, I definitely do.

 

Long story short, I recommend you to visit these blogs and get a change to re-examine your life. As I mentioned earlier, you may think that their views are too realistic to apply to your life but you may find their eye-opening life approaches are awfully helpful to create your own life path (as they did it to me).

 

Believe me. No one can change your life unless you are ready to do so. All is up to you.

Jin's Sixth Picture in 2014

Any reason, I have been in a slack mood since the last picture. Whole month what I have done is only a simple sketch for the next picture and I am still not quite ready for the colouring. Lack of passion? Lack of commitment? Lack of self-assurance? Just being lazy? Maybe, little bit of everything. I have been trying to refresh myself but unfortunately the efforts were not really effective. So I decided to put this picture which I delayed to show for a month.

 

Even though I put same efforts and love into this picture as any others, honestly I didn’t get satisfied enough from this picture and the feeling discouraged me to paint more. Facing unsatisfactory picture is hurting as I put loads of love into. I know that I need to learn how to deal with ups and downs, and approve ‘Non perfect’ can be also acceptable as nothing is perfect. Too long excuses… may be… I don't feel still confident enough to show this but let me share with you to get fresh energy for the next one.

 

The place to go, Port Macquarie

The decision we made to visit my sister’s family in Port Macquarie one week before the Easter break was simply excellent. We could avoid the dreadful traffic jam (holiday makers) and enjoyed the delightful last summer weather in Port Macquarie while Sydney was drenched the whole week. After the long overseas trip and travelling 14 countries, I have to admit that there are so many exceptionally beautiful places in Australia and Port Macquarie is definitely one of the places I wouldn’t mind to pack and go at any time.

 

 

Port Macquarie is located midway between Sydney and Brisbane on the North Coast of NSW, 390km from north of Sydney. It is well known as a retirees’ heaven and has extensive beaches and waterways. We have been there already 5 times but each time the place stuns me with indescribable joy. Whenever I visit the town, the feeling of brightness and spaciousness captures my heart and releases all the stresses that I haven’t even noticed I had.

 

The trip to Port Macquarie was delightful from the beginning. We were all 6 people, two of my other sisters, my teenager niece, a cousin from Korea, my lovely husband and myself. We stopped a petrol station near Gosford for a short break and having homemade breakfast in front of McDonald. Imagine that 6 people were munching mouthful of homemade rice balls with seaweed, boiled eggs and fruits in front of McDonald among the many tourists those who were having burgers and chips with soft drinks.  We were definitely outstanding but I cannot imagine that I had to push the heavy and greasy junks into my empty belly (in the morning!!). My European husband was murmuring that we looked like a gypsy family but he looked like enjoying the funny and yummy breakfast.

 

After nearly 5 hours of driving, we have safely arrived in Port Macquarie about lunch time. It was wonderful to see my sister’s family after a year gap (time flies!!!) especially my little niece and nephew. Grown up kids made me realise that how much we got older but who can stop this so, get over thisJ. Second thing I was expecting to see was their first home which my husband and I forced them to buy at our last get-together. We urged them to have their own house by paying off mortgage instead of paying rent. Fortunately, they took our advice and purchased a reasonable size and affordable priced house in order to avoid being struggled by massive mortgage.

 

Their 2 bedroom villa pleasantly surprised us. Close to the beach and town centre, close to the main road but still very quiet as it is sitting at the back of the block, spacious living room and kitchen, little sunroom which can be converted to an extra bedroom, and small courtyard for children… Purchasing the house made them pay the mortgage for their own home less than the rent they used to pay. Paying mortgage forces them to save more so they spend far more consciously than ever before. I was absolutely surprised and proud of them when they told us that they laid floor themselves to save money. It was extremely pleasant to see that they start finding the pleasure of saving and trying to manage their finance. Especially, happy to see the couple is sharing a common goal and working together for it.

Another highlight was the morning run along the beach and river for me and morning surfing for my husband. Start from Town beach to Hasting river running (walking) track stunned me every morning. While my husband was catching waves (sometimes with dolphins

J), I could enjoy my each step next to the indescribable view. The pleasure was so huge that I couldn’t ask more for the days.

 

 

Extra things we could enjoy in Port Macquarie were Dolphin watching. Every time we visited there, we were fortune to see the dolphins. Watching dolphins taking waves with surfers is just unreal. If you are lucky, you can even see the whales. I have seen them on the top lighthouse beach which is another beach I adore in Port Macquarie. A day trip to Lake Cathie and Crescent Head with family was extra bonus. The unique atmosphere of mixing between town and small city captured my heart effortlessly.

I am sorry that I cannot talk about any good restaurants or dining experiences (Personally, I am not a big fan of having food outside.). We shopped at supermarkets and shared cooking duties at home. It was cost-effective

J and healthier choice. Cooking for 8 adults and 2 kids required quite a bit of efforts and time but we could fill up the cooking time with additional chatting, gossiping and playing with kids. I recommend homemade dinner instead of going out especially when you want to get more precious time together with family and friends. The time was as delicious as actual food.

 

Unfortunate fact that we had to go back to work forced us to leave such a heavenly place and return to reality. Already more than 3 weeks have gone since we returned, I am still day dreaming about the morning run and walking along the beaches (especially, when I am in the office). I am extremely sorry that I have to spend most of my days in the cubicles which cut off the connection from outside instead of living (enjoying) my days (life). I know self-pity wouldn’t lead me anywhere but simply I can’t stop being blue.

 

On the way back, we were talking about moving out from Sydney and living in Port Macquarie. This sounds great, doesn’t it? If you want to go away from your daily routines and recharge yourself, I can highly recommend you to visit Port Macquarie. I know the place will surely revive you.

 

 

 

10 tips to keep a healthy relationship

 

 

“I can’t believe my luck. I am so happy with you. You can’t believe how much I love you. Maybe, too much….”

 

“O…M…G….!!!! Who is talking this kind of gross stuff? Absolutely disgusting….”  I can already hear my teenager niece’s yelling if any chance she reads this blog. Hahaha… It’s my husband. My husband still keeps whispering these to me almost every day after 13 years of relationship. I am definitely on the right track, aren’t I? Am I showing off? Maybe… Yes, I am. Why can’t I show off and be proud of being in a wonderful relationship with my husband when big house, new luxurious cars, fancy clothes and well-paid jobs can be easily celebrated? Our current materialistic world makes us confident to be proud of what we possess or what we can buy, but we are still shy to show how great relationship we have with our partners. Isn’t it truly wonderful to have satisfied relationship with your loved ones? If you agree with me, you are ready to enjoy your wonderful life with your partner. 

 

These are 10 tips I would like to share with you to keep a healthy relationship.  These are working perfectly with me so, why not to you?

 

 

 

1.      Respect each other: You need to respect the difference between men and women. Not only men and women, we all are unique. We all think and act differently. So, don’t try to change the others to be a person like you. You need to respect what they think and how they behave and try to understand them as they are. You would never feel good if anyone tries to control over your thoughts and behaviours so, don’t do it to others. I promise you that it wouldn’t work anyway. Understanding and respecting is the first step toward to the harmonious relationship.

 

 

 

2.      Remember that no one is perfect: Have you been dreaming about Mr/Mrs Right? Did you think that your partner was Mr/Mrs Right then but not any more? ‘Right’ doesn’t mean ‘Perfect’ and no one can be perfect. Don’t expect that your partner would meet all your expectations or needs. We human are imperfect so our life is exciting and also challenging. How about you? Are you perfect? Love your partner’s weakness and imperfectness, and work on your relationships based on what you have rather than what you wish to have.

 

 

 

 

3.      Keep being attractive to each other: Keep your body and mind fit and healthy. Don’t ask your partner to love you when you don’t love yourself. Do you think your body and mind are still attractive to yourself, and to your partner? Very often, we are ‘Too’ relaxed with our relationships and expecting all will be as good as before (when we are not good as before.). Don’t neglect your body and mind. Keep your body healthy and fit and mind positive (no one can be happy with negative person). I know when you are happy with your body and mind, your partner will be even happier with you.

 

 

 

4.      Show the love: Tell your partner what you feel about him or her. There is no one doesn’t like compliments. We all are born to be loved and cherished. Show your love to your partner plenteously and constantly. Tell them how much you love them, what you like about them, how they look great, how much you enjoy being with them, etc… This will be the best investment in your life as it will give you the best return all the time. 

 

 

5.      Share goals and have a common goal: Everyone has their own life purpose and goals to achieve. Share with your partner about your dream and goals, and also try to get involved into your partner’s goals and what are their wishes. Having someone (especially loved ones) who can understand and support your dream can energise and brighten your life. Also, I highly recommend you to have common goals to do and support together. Quite often, we complain about lack of communication between partners especially when we are in a long term relationship. Having common goals can be very helpful to resolve this problem as you will share your thoughts and actions together to achieve the goals.

 

 

 

6.      Keep improve yourself: Do not stop improving yourself. Being in a relationship doesn’t mean you need to stop developing or learning things for yourself. Even though you are in a same relationship with your partner, each of you is growing different speed and also different directions. The gap between you and your partner’s growth could become a problem to understand each other (also to respect each other). Share about your knowledge and interest with your partner and try to learn more about what your partner is interested in. I believe that a healthy relationship can be achieved when both parties grow together.

 

 

 

7.      Ready to compromise yourself: Manly of conflicts between couples can start by stubbornness. Becoming a couple from two persons requires fair volume of cooperation and adaptation. You need to open yourself to your partner’s opinions as much as you want your views to be accepted. Open conversation can be very helpful. You need to let your partner what is your thoughts and you also need to clearly understand what your partner’s thoughts are. A successful negotiation can be only made based on the clear understanding. One person cannot be a dictator and the other is a follower in a healthy relationship. Both needs to have their own opinions and also be ready to accept the other party’s opinions.

 

 

 

 

8.      Be rational:  I don’t believe that a relationship without disagreements can be a healthy relationship. We all need to argue time to time. Unfortunately, it is our human nature and we need to deal with it wisely. Try to be rational and avoid being emotional when you get into the arguments. Honestly, we women are more likely to be emotional when we have to deal with this. I know it is not easy but we need to try to be rational to control the situation better. Try to get some time to calm yourself and think about the outcomes you wish to achieve. You may realise that the problem was not that big as you thought.

 

 

 

9.      Travel together: Traveling together will definitely strengthen your relationship. Spending more time and having wonderful experiences together can create a strong connection between you and your partner. Daily routines and 9 to 5 working life very often loosen our feeling of affection to each other so we need to put an effort to refresh and tighten our loving feeling time to time. Travelling can be a very helpful solution. Sharing and remembering our unforgettable memories and experiences from our last 4.5 months trip together is unquestionably one of the biggest supports for our wonderful relationship.

 

 

 

 

10.   Talk more about sex: One of the funny things I cannot understand is people are getting shyer or lazier to talk about sex when they live together longer. Any reason, we intend to avoid expressing our sexual desires towards to our partners and dismiss the importance of communicating about sex. I admit that it is not a common topic to talk out louder but why not between you and your partner. Ring or text him or her and let them know how you feel. Being naughty to your partner sometimes. Trust me. It will surprisingly boost your relationship with your partner.

 

Am I doing all of these? Of course not… but I am aware of the importance of them and trying to get closer to ‘Well-done’ stage diligently. I believe that my husband is putting the same efforts to keep our relationship fit and healthy. Relationship is not one way business. Both of you need constantly work hard on keeping and maintaining the relationship healthy as the happy relationship can bring enormous pleasure to your life.  

 

 

Positive Affirmations to revive yourself ( (Week 8 to 13)

Friday afternoon, my day is diligently running away from ‘Today’ to ‘Yesterday’ and I am (as always) struggling to comprehend this unreal flow of time/life. Already April…. A quarter of year has gone…   I have been trying to keep myself fresh as I was at the beginning of the year but honestly, it is not always easy. My New Year’s resolutions (such as preparing every week new affirmations, writing blogs, painting pictures, keeping fit, etc…) have become my routine things to do and don’t excite me as much as before.

 

I know, no one cannot be fully energised or motivated always so I am not going to blame that I am in blue today.  ‘BUT’, I also know that I need to lift myself up and refresh my determinations. So, it is time to get helped by positive affirmations. There are affirmations from week 5 to this week (week 15). Read them out with me if you feel down. I know this will help. J

 

 

 

Week 8  

I am fit, healthy and attractive.

My vision is always clear and focused on my dreams.

I love myself and I am in charge of my own happiness.

I can accomplish every opportunity I am given.

I take deeper, longer and relaxed breaths, and I am in peace.

 

 

 

Week 9

 

My body is healthy, my mind is brilliant and my soul is peaceful.

I wake up every day with strength in my heart and clarity in my mind.

I acknowledge my own self-worth and my confidence is growing.

I have been given endless talents and I begin to utilize them now.

Everything that is happening now is happening for my ultimate good.

 

Week 10

 

I can do anything I wish to do.

I discover fantastic opportunities every day.

Everything is working out for my highest good.

I am courageous and I can stand up for myself.

Creative energy flows through me and leads me to new and brilliant ideas.

 

 

 

 

Week 11

I am in charge of my own happiness and responsible for filling my own needs.

 I honour my body by making healthy choices and choose to be healthy and feel good.

 I am open and receptive to miracles in every area of my life.

I am creating financial security through the use of my talents.

 My marriage is becoming stronger, deeper, and more stable each day.

 

 

 

Week 12

I am strong, focused and motivated.

I am truly loved and approved by myself.

I am healthier, wealthier and happier every day.

I have plenty of positive energy so I can handle any difficulties in my life.

I communicate my feeling and needs in healthy, respectful ways.

 

 

Week 13

I am open and receptive to new ideas and opportunities.

I am good at many things that can open up the bright future.

I am diligently learning valuable knowledge and improving myself every day.

My life is heaven.

Wonderful things are happening in my life now.

 

 

 

Week 14

I can do it.

Everything I need comes to me at the perfect time.

Everything I touch is a success.

I am constantly discovering new ways to improve my life.

My home fulfils all my desires and needs.

 

Do Something!

 

 

Already for 3 weeks, I have been having a heel pain. The first week, I tried to ignore the pain as I constantly have some pains all over the body (e.g. ankle, knees, shoulders, hamstring, hips and so on…) from my over exercising. The second week, the pain seemed to start bothering me more that I was feeling very uncomfortable but, I was still too lazy to do anything for it. As my foot hurts more as the day goes on, this week I have been having a problem to even walk without pain. I knew I needed to do something but the lack of determination delayed me to do anything. The funny thing was I expected my foot would be fine soon like a miracle (when I didn’t do anything to get better???).

 

Finally, after lunch time work-out (I know, I shouldn’t have done J), having a serious pain that I couldn’t walk without limping, I decided to ‘DO’ something.

 

I showed my foot to one of my colleagues who used to be a physiotherapist and asked her opinion. She straightaway diagnosed ‘Plantar Fasciitis’ according to my symptoms and suggested me to search internet about it. I felt immediately better by only knowing what it could be. 

 

 

 

‘Plantar fasciitis (say "PLAN-ter fash-ee-EYE-tus") is the most common cause of heel pain. The plantar fascia is the flat band of tissue (ligament) that connects your heel bone to your toes. It supports the arch of your foot. If you strain your plantar fascia, it gets weak, swollen, and irritated (inflamed). Then your heel or the bottom of your foot hurts when you stand or walk.’

Wow… When I read the first a few sentences, I knew I was on a right track. So, what could be the causes of the pain and how to cure this? Of course, there were plenty of free advices and tips for me to try on the web instead of visiting Physio. 

•           Give feet a rest and cut back on activities that make feet hurt. (This will be very hard as I can’t stop moving ).

•           Try not to walk or run on hard surfaces. (No run??? This is even harder.)

•           To reduce pain and swelling, try putting ice on heel. (Good, I can do this.)

•           Or take an over-the-counter pain reliever like ibuprofen (such as Advil or Motrin), naproxen (such as Aleve), or aspirin. (Well…, I don’t want to take a pill not to feel pain instead of curing.)

•           Do toe stretches, calf stretches and towel stretches several times a day, especially when you first get up in the morning. (This sounds very good. I can try this.)

•           Get a new pair of shoes. Pick shoes with good arch support and a cushioned sole. Or try heel cups or shoe inserts. Use them in both shoes, even if only one foot hurts.

 

I immediately applied some of these tips yesterday and through this morning (especially icing and stretches), and guess what? I feel far better than yesterday. I am going to buy shoe inserts today to get the best result (getting rid of this pain) as soon as possible.
 

  

What am I talking about now? Sorry, I didn’t want to talk about my painful heel or how to fix all my sport injuries. What I really wanted to talk about is that I was quite amazed by my attitude on problem solving. I have been knowing/acknowledging my pain for three weeks but I didn’t take any action to release the pain and I only hoped it would be better ‘Anyhow’. Obviously, the miracle didn’t happen and I had to be in pain during the time. Once I decided to take an action for solving the problem, I could have a closer look at the problem and stepped forward to finding solutions. When I found out what could be helpful and applied some of options, the problem starts getting easier and simpler. Now, I am facing the problem and trying to resolve it. (My right foot is on ice after three sets of stretches and, I feel good J).
 

Most people including myself very often try to ignore or delay facing problems. Delaying will never lead you anywhere. Either the problems will stay there wait for your action anyway or get bigger/worsen that you need to put extra efforts to resolve. So, when you have got a problem, don’t delay it, face and deal with it. Remember that we intend to worry more than necessary. The problems could be far simpler than you think.

 

Don’t expect a miracle can happen to solve your problems. As you are responsible for your happiness in your life, all the problems occurred in your life are also your responsibility. No one can solve your problems on behalf of you and the miracle you wish could only rarely happen (if you are extremely lucky).
 

Examine the problems properly. Don’t exaggerate or underestimate.  When you are clearer with the problems, shorter time and less efforts will be needed.
 

When you know what the actual problems are, you can find out ways and take action to resolve them. I believe that most of problems can be solved by our appropriate approaches and efforts. If it is beyond our control, then we have to let it flow anyway. Am I right?
 

I know that my thoughts are jumping everywhere from my sore heel to problem solving (sorry J). However, this simple practice helped me to realize that how important to take action (‘Do’)  when we get any issues. There was no reason to keep the pain and suffer every single step for three weeks with doing nothing. I feel embarrassed that I left my body in pain so long when I know how important to keep it healthy. At least I feel better now that I have started doing something for it (be positive J).   
 

Do you have any problem? You know what to do now, don’t you? ‘Do’ something!