Dear Editor,



I recently had a replacement furnace installed in my home. When the contractor arrived to drop off the equipment he informed me he needed to go to town hall to obtain a permit in order to perform the required work. In a related comment he indicated that most municipal town governments were difficult to work with, occasionally rude and often slow to issue permits.

Upon returning with the permit in hand the contractor was pleased to inform me that all town employees he encountered were professional, polite and efficient. In a related matter, the town inspector that verified the accuracy of the installation arrived at the appointed time, introduced himself and performed the task without delay. Well done!

Jim Dolle

An Important Little Instruction

Dear Editor,

Maybe you’ve heard of H. Jackson Browne. He’s an American author who’s probably best known for his “Life’s Little Instruction Book,” which spent about two years on the New York Times best-seller list. The book is a compilation of little quotes, tidbits of advice and sayings Browne originally put together for his son when he went off to college. Tiny pieces of it have been excerpted and turned into a poster — a motivational-type piece you might see in a doctor’s office or a classroom. Some of the instructions on the poster aren’t anything super-deep — “Have a dog,” “Say Hello to a stranger,” things like that — but there’s one that might stop and make you think for a bit. “Don’t postpone joy.”

It’s simple, but it’s powerful.

How often are we guilty of postponing joy? How many times do we deny ourselves emotional gratification because we’re too busy with things we don’t enjoy? Have you heard someone say, “I wish I had the time to enjoy it?” That’s the thing — make time to enjoy it. Don’t postpone joy. Don’t be too busy for joy.

If you’re one of those people who work, work, work all the time — nose-to-the-grindstone folks who never look up, toiling away in the hope that someday it will all be worth it, that one day, you’ll get to sit back and finally be rewarded — think of the occasions of joy you will miss in the meantime. Life’s not about some huge moment of happiness at the end. It’s about the little moments of happiness along the way. Yes, work hard. Yes, be dedicated. But instead of blindly chugging toward the one big payoff that’s around the corner, if you could just manage to turn it, allow your self the little payoffs that life offers you.

A child’s smile, you’re favorite team’s championship, A good book, Dinner-and-a-movie night, Family and friends. Don’t ignore them now thinking you’ll have time to enjoy them later. Don’t postpone joy.

That’s especially useful to remember this at this time of year. The holidays are supposed to be a time of joy, but so many people get caught up in the busy-ness of the holidays. Busy shopping. Busy traveling. Busy decorating the house. The holidays are, in fact, a common time of year for people to get depressed. The calendar even works against us.

The time to turn over a new leaf seems to be with the New Year. “Get through the holidays and start fresh in the New Year,” our calendars say. Then it becomes, “I’ll be able to enjoy the spring,” or “I can’t wait for summer.” And before you know it, you’re back to where you are right now. It’s corny, but Charles Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol” is a good reminder. The Scrooge character spent a lifetime of being too busy for Christmas. Too busy for the things around him that could have brought him joy. Luckily, he comes around before it’s too late, but he postponed joy so much that his attitude “Bah, humbug,” and name are now synonomous with being grumpy and crabby and no fun.

Don’t let it happen to you. We are all on a journey. Don’t be too busy for the things that are truly important. Don’t torture yourself with that “If I can just make it to here” mentality. Don’t be more willing to suffer than to prosper. It’s not too late; it’s something anyone can turn around by heeding one little instruction.

Don’t postpone joy.

Merry Christmas

Ed Neering

Holly Springs

Normal is

Dear Editor,

Few are taught from an early age how to manage the resources they’ve acquired and the rest of us learn through trial and error. As a family we thought we were doing okay. We were going about being “normal” when in August 2008 my husband’s employer informed us that “the only work available is on the west coast for the next few months.” We were unable to say “no thanks” because we hadn’t planned for this. Those three months slowly morphed into 13 months separation. This was tough with one daughter in college and another in high school.

Normal we learned is carrying unsecured debt from month to month and imagining we were getting ahead by rolling it into an equity line of credit, with the intention of paying it off when: the economy rebounds, a future pay raise, a possible bonus- etc.

Normal is pulling out the plastic each time an unforeseen emergency arises (Murphy’s Law) causing an ongoing dependence with the credit card industry.

My family is tired of the stress that being “normal” created and we began to make a change through the thick of our crisis. We began by listening to Dave Ramsey on the radio, reading a couple of his books and making different choices in how we relate to money. Our church offered a class of Dave’s called Financial Peace University that helped us really get on board. I thought it would be a good investment if I learned tools to eliminate debt and as importantly how to manage our assets once we were free of debt. This class did not disappoint! The cost of the class was far less than what we “normally” would have spent on just eating out or purchasing a gift. It’s paid for itself many times over by what we’ve currently saved. Attending classes kept us on track through small group accountability, which enabled us to be proactive and remain undeceived. It fed my competitive edge too in that we began competing against our own debt and winning!

When was your last money fight? When was the last time you paid a bill late? Do you have a car loan, student loan, or credit card payment? Through Financial Peace University you learn how to communicate with your spouse about money while put together a spending plan that works for you, completely eliminate debt. We were told the average family pays off $5,300 in debt plus saves $2,000 within 13 weeks. (We actually did much better than this). A current classmate had the pleasure of speaking on air with Dave Ramsey to do the “I’M DEBT FREE!” yell. How exciting is that?! Would you like to be the next one to do so?

There are several churches in our community who will be offering this class; you may visit www.daveramsey.com to find one near you. Classes are more affordable through a church as well. Sunrise United Methodist will be showing a free preview class on Wednesday, Jan. 6 at 6:45 p.m. and again on Sunday, January 10 at 2 p.m. The actual class is planned for Sunday afternoons from 2-4 p.m. beginning Jan. 17, 2010. At Sunrise, the first nine enrollments who purchase their class material through Sunrise UMC and attend 12 sessions and will get a 10 percent rebate upon graduation. Debt happens, however becoming debt free is a choice we all can make. Make a difference in your family tree by choosing to be debt free, and make it a gift that keeps on giving. Kathy Gahagen