September has been such a busy month, and it’s really all gearing up towards a more crazy October – but in a great way.
This weekend Renee and I signed a lease on a new apartment, and we move in three weeks (two weeks before the wedding). We’re moving from a 500 sq. foot, one bedroom apartment, to an 800 sq. foot loft apartment with more storage space, cabinets and a cool layout. My favorite part so far: a washer and dryer!!! The freedom to do laundry whenever I want and not have to leave my apartment is going to be excellent. We want to take this first year of our marriage and save for our future, so hopefully in a year we can buy a house.
Money has been on the forefront of my mind recently, but not in the same panicked way it always has been before. Something has started to shift in my mindset, from one of “not enough money ever,” to being appreciative of everything that I have been blessed with. For acknowledging how much I do have, and for being thankful of having enough. Sometimes it doesn’t feel like “enough,” but Renee and I are able to live somewhere safe and comfortable. We have enough food to eat and don’t go hungry. We can help out with our family. We’re able to make our car payments. Those are our basics needs, and those needs are met. The things that we consider our “basic needs” are actually luxuries to many people, so I’ve found that if I take time to acknowledge and be grateful for that, the stress is less.
In dealing with money, we also have a wedding that we’re paying for! Weddings are not typically cheap, but they absolutely can be – if you shift your perspective. What’s important to you and your beloved? Is the venue worth shelling out thousands of dollars for? The food? The decorations? The photographers? The dress? For us and our tight budget, we really had to think: what’s the most important thing for us on that day? The answer was simply, “to be surrounded with love by our friends and family as we celebrate our love for one another.” That’s what we wanted – love and people. Do I remember all the table settings of previous weddings that I’ve been to? All the decorations? The types of flowers? The dress, even? Honestly, no. In the end, what sticks out to me is how happy the couple looked on that day and how much fun we all had. That’s it. So when we started planning the wedding, we kept that in mind and let everything else fall into place without much stress or worry. Is it going to be the most gorgeous, well-planned and meticulously decorated wedding ever? No. But I bet there will be enough love and happiness surrounding us that day that we’ll never forget it.
How have you been dealing with the stressors in your life? How have you changed your thought process to encompass the “enough” mentality?
Antevasin 