Today was an exceptionally busy day. This weekend is going to be even busier. It's the last day of November. Tomorrow is the first day of the last month of the year. For us, that's quite symbolic. December has always been our month to spread lots of bodacious holiday love and cheer for humans and animals. Unfortunately, a few things changed over the past couple of weeks that have made that a bit more challenging. But, we've got this.
You can read about that here.
Long story short, my Work at Home Dog Mom Bonus was cut in half. That crushed both of us because this year, we truly went above and beyond. And, in addition, I gave very generous discounts for certain clients. We were both confident that my generous Work at Home Dog Mom Bonus wouldn't change, but...
Remember the movie, 'National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation?' Clark Griswold puts a down payment on a backyard swimming pool for his family. His plans are to use his generous holiday bonus to pay for it. He's gotten this bonus for years.
Unfortunately, he discovers that his boss took the cheap way out that year. Instead of the generous monetary bonus, he gets a membership to the "Jelly of the Month” club.
If you've seen the movie, you know what happens from that point on.
That's kind of how I felt after getting the response from my email. After many discussions, Lisa and I brushed ourselves off and embraced our "face forward, onward march" mantra.
Because of our strict budgeting, we could still spread bodacious holiday love and cheer. To compensate for the 50% decrease in my Work at Home Dog Mom Bonus, we decided to use the proceeds from our 2018 Bodacious Holiday Ornaments, the Bodacious Snowmen, and our Bodacious 12 Days of Christmas to compensate for that.
Then, about a week later, our washing machine broke so we had to buy a new one. That cost us over $400.
But, we still embraced our mantra of "face forward, onward march" despite the fact that my Work at Home Dog Mom Bonus was cut in half and we had to buy a new washing machine.
At that point, the bulk of our spreading love and holiday cheer funds were depleted.
Earlier today, I was feeling quite defeated.
And, I'm not going to lie. I was feeling extremely bitter.
Due to strict client confidentiality, I'm not able to share why I was bitter.
Over dinner, this evening, Lisa and I talked about this in length.
Lisa reminded me of something I shared with her weeks ago.
"When you can't control what's happening, challenge yourself to control the way you respond to what's happening. That's where your power is."
So, that's exactly what we're doing.
We are still going to spread holiday love and cheer to the humans and animals.
Yes, this will be coming out of our pockets, but, we can do it.
We are making it our mission to spread holiday love and cheer and random acts of kindness through the month of December.
And, beyond as we always do.
Sure, this will involve some creativity, making sacrifices, a lot of extra hard work, and embracing diligence, but we can do it.
And, we will.
Another portion of our discussion this evening included the following...
"We're still going to do what we do. We'll have to bust ass a bit more and create more stuff and shop sales and clearance, but we can do it."
"I know we can. But, I'm just having such a hard time with a few things, especially the excuses. And, I know things didn't have to be this way."
"Yeah, I know, but, we can't change people and the situations. All we can change is how we respond to it. Let's spread our holiday love and cheer. Then, we can make those changes come 2019."
"Okay. Let's do this."
Starting tomorrow, December 1st, we're going to spread Bodacious Love and Holiday Cheer each day for the entire month as we've always done.
Most will come out of our own pockets, but so be it.
We're not going to let the poor excuses, laziness, and the young adults who have no ambition dampen our spirits.
Face forward.
Onward march.
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