Sometimes You Do Not Want to Know
Vacation Aftereffects
As many of you know, last week I went on vacation with my family and allowed myself to mostly unplug for a full 7 days, and it was a wonderful thing. I read a few books, I built multiple sandcastles with my son, I took the time to watch a beautiful sunset, I almost completed a 1000 piece puzzle with my family, and I went on an amazing whale watching expedition that included seeing a mommy and baby humpback whale do tricks only a few feet from our boat.In addition to all these wonderful things, though, I also ate more than I usually eat and drank more alcohol than I usually consume. On top of this, I did not work out as much as I usually do because I was too busy enjoying my family. Last night, I was changing clothes and I looked in the mirror and was not happy with the size of my rear end. I didn’t need the visual confirmation, though, because my clothes are definitely feeling a little more snug than before my vacation started.
I Am Avoiding My Scale
This morning, I went to the bathroom and stared down at my scale and thought about stepping on to get the official confirmation of my bad behavior, but then I realized that I just didn’t want to know how bad it was. Actually seeing the number on the scale may make my weight gain even worse.
Some People Avoid Their Bank Account
I think that many of us feel this exact same way with our finances. We know that we have been bad and spent money we shouldn’t have or didn’t make extra payments to student loan debt or didn’t save as much as we should, and we just don’t want to look at our bank statements. I even know some people who refuse to log into their bank accounts for fear of what they might see.I actually think that sometimes it’s okay to not know; however, it’s only okay if you are putting a plan in place to make a change. If you don’t look, and keep doing the same things over and over again, then you run the risk of getting into serious financial troubles. Or in my case, you run the risk of gaining 50 pounds without even thinking about it.
My Plan Before the Scale
I am personally not going to step on the scale just yet. I know that the results will be bad, but I am making a change. I just came from a crazy intense kickboxing class that I typically avoid because everything hurts afterward. I am waking up at 4:45 am tomorrow to make it to the 5:15 am body sculpting class following by some time on the elliptical machine. I am eating lots of salads and I am cutting back the alcohol. When the clothes loosen again, I will step on the scale.If you fear what your financial picture looks like, don’t just stick your head in the sand and hope that it will go away. Even if you don’t look, it doesn’t change the fact that it’s a mess. I encourage you to face the mess or at the very least, make a plan for change so that you can one day start checking in again on your finances. It’s when you don’t look and don’t pay attention that most of the problems arise.
Have you ever avoided your finances? If so, what finally triggered you to start looking again?
PS: Here are a few vacation pics
