Hi Everyone,
It’s summertime and invariably my thoughts turn to gardening this time of year. I want to share some of my thoughts on seeds. Seeds are very interesting in that they have a hard shell that protects them from the cold of winter. But the warmth and the moisture of spring perform magic on the seeds and the hard shell falls away so that the seed can germinate and grow.
The main reason I’m writing about seeds is because they offer an interesting analogy to life. I think that often in life we have a hard shell that surrounds our ego so that we can protect it. That hard shell might be residual from a previous time in our life when we needed the protection the shell provided. But oftentimes people can come into our lives and give us the warmth and moisture we need to cast away that shell for personal growth. That has happened in my life. The other day my wife was giving me some advice. In the past I may have tried to ignore this kind of advice. This time I listened and it was like the warmth and moisture of spring for me. Now don’t get me wrong. My wife and I still have the conversations that married couples have and some of them are difficult but I wanted to share this conversation because it was so revealing for me.
Now it’s time for a tough question. Are you living with a hard shell around you just like a seed? That question can cover so many parts of life and have so many answers. Maybe the hard shell is the habit of overspending. You overspend because for some reason in the past you didn’t have enough and now you want to prove to yourself that you do. Or maybe somewhere in your past you were taught that you needed everything right now rather than waiting until you could save enough money to really afford it. Or maybe the hard shell you have is the myth that somehow, without planning, your retired years will be financially satisfactory and you can go on living your life just as it is. Or maybe your car has to be the very biggest in spite of the fact that a smaller car would fit your lifestyle much better. Maybe the same is true of your house.
Whatever your financial hard shell might be maybe it’s time to get rid of it. We at the credit union can help. We do car loans on small cars too. We do mortgages on small houses too. And we have rates on money market accounts and certificates of deposit that can’t be beat to help you invest the money you’ll save when you stop overspending. Come on in to the credit union and let us give you the financial warmth and moisture your life needs to germinate and grow.
In closing I want to shift gears and say thank you to a very special person. September 1st will be the last day on the job for Pat Johnson our AVP of Lending. Pat’s been with the credit union for over 30 years. She’s a dedicated employee who cares for the members of the credit union and for her fellow employees. Pat, thank you for a job well done. We’ll miss you and we wish you all the best for the future.
Till Next Time,