Franceska

I’m 26 years old and I’m in debt. Not little debt, pretty large debt. I haven’t exactly had the pleasure of meeting my financial goals in the past three years or so, as I’ve been in school full time, trying to get an education. Being a student is not easy, especially not financially. I’ve been counting every penny, and making sacrifices to my social life (mostly) because of my lack of financial means. Now that I’m out of school and can get a full time job, I need to see some money coming in. I have to pay some loans back, and I have to get back on track so I can eventually get a house, not to mention it’d be nice to be able to go out without making sure it fits in the budget every single time. So finding a fulfilling full time job is out of the question for now. First, get a paying job in a different field (ex: call center, business), then, when some of my debts are gone, I’ll worry about finding a job I’ll enjoy.

Little steps, right? I gave my name to volunteer for the NDP for an event going on next week. I did this about three weeks ago, and I was wondering why they hadn’t called back. I got the call today, and so I’ll be contributing a few hours of my day to help register some delegates and people attending a conference in Quebec city. Should be interesting, and hey, it’s experience. Plus, who knows, maybe I’ll meet some valuable contacts. So this is my first tiny steps towards getting involved in politics.

I started keeping a “Grateful” journal. Every day, I write a few things that I am grateful for. My friend suggested I try this to help me deal with hard times. I didn’t think it could possibly help, but surprisingly, it’s having a really positive impact. There are so many things going wrong in my life these days, and yet, at the end of each day, I realize how many great things are also happening. I am finally starting to learn to appreciate small things, such as a fridge full of groceries, a good friend listening to me rant, a phone call from a distant relative, simple things.