*cowboy music* ♪♪ Pananananannnnn! Pwaaa Pwaaa Pwaaaaaaaa! Pananananaaaaannn! Pwaaa Pwaaaa Pwaaaaaa! Pananananaaann! Pwaa Pwa-Pwa-Pwa-Pwaaaaaa! Pananananaaaan! Pwaaa Pwaaaaaaaaaaa! ♪♪ *cowboy music* The day was sunny. It was a perfect day to meet The Rival face-to-face and fight. It was a Western Showdown, where the Quicker Draw would prevail, the Slower would have to leave town. Saturday Morning. That was the date. The expectations of the Town were high, and as the moment came close, women rushed the children inside, men closed the window panes of stores and pubs. The hour came. A quick draw, some gunshots were heard echoing in the space, sound ricocheting from the walls, and a pained moan. The Quicker Draw, know as The Fastest Card of This Side of The Mississipi belted her gun again, safe in the holster, cocked back, safety in, and watched from under the rim of her Stetson how the golden rival, once so powerful was reduced to a piece of plastic. Another credit card debt cancelled. She smirked but still didn't claim victory. Like the Horsemen of the Apocalypse, these rode in four. Pestilence and Death were dealt with. War and Famine were yet to be taken care of.
Well, Wild, Wild West Story aside, yes, this Saturday I paid off and cancelled the debt swelling in the second of my credit cards. Hell, no sweeter emotion has been known to men. *thinking about it and making a mental list of all sweet emotions known to men* Nope, not one as GREAT and FULFILLING as getting rid of debt. These two, now brought to 0 were the ones I labelled as "The Dangerous Cards". Higher limits, higher interest rates: death traps sugarcoated in gold and platinum. The feeling was much like finally getting the divorce papers from a troublesome marriage. Now we are free from each other, the card don't hold me down, and whenever we meet again, it will be on my terms, on my watch, no strings attached. No more rabid spending, no more spending and not checking the amount spent. No more payments under the Cancelling Amount and as over the Minimal Payment as possible. No. Now it is a matter of rational shopping, and paying the whole debt. The card is back to be my bitch. (Excuse my vocabulary.)
This Saturday was an awesome day for me. Not only I slaughtered the second Dangerous Card, but I also found out that I can finally pay my Oriflame bills at a far more convenient bank! Yes! No more 3 hour lines to pay a bill! It was also my Dad's birthday and I was totally out of ideas about what to give him, because the one thing I had thought so was unavailable. Damned. However, I made a great choice by buying for him a light green guayavera. In truth, nothing pleases more a pro-Latin American man than a traditional guayavera shirt. So, I pulled that off nicely too! Dad was beyond himself.
I made some ground meat rissoles or patties and some rice, since Mom wasn't feeling well (she may have eaten something bad, because she was complaining about her tummy, but then she was well), which turned out to be great. Well, I was having a great day, so no wonder! So, inspite of Mom feeling a bit under the weather for a few hours, Saturday was one of those "Nothing Can Go Wrong" days. Have you had any of those? You know, those days when you are on the top of the world, the Universe seems aligned to please you and everything is just good. Yeah, that was this Saturday for me.
I spent my day resting, watching TV, wolfing on coke, chocolate icecream with chocolate whipped cream, chocolate waffle sticks and sugared figs, reading mangas and basking in the feeling of freedom being recovered away from the debt chains the bank had me tied down with for so many years. This movie "Confessions of a Shopaholic" came to my mind, and yes, the feeling of being able to pay your dues and elicit pleasure from it, of waving away the Siren Call of windowshops and tell all the sparkly, fancy, pretty things in there "Yes, you are gorgeous indeed, but I don't really need you". The movie wasn't one that really deserved much of my attention, I even considered it somewhat overdone and stupid, irrational at merely suggesting that you can solve all your credit card problems by holding a garage sale of all your things. Lets just be honest: how many of us can do that? Outside the U.S., where it seems garage sales are everyday happenings.
Now, thought I still think the movie is a bit overdone and too fairly-tale-like, the remastered message goes: you can bit your debt, you just have to work it! (And above all, you must be able to STOP before the cards go Godzilla on You!) There is a way out, you just have to stick to it! It is hard, I won't lie, and it's gonna take time, and some times lots and lots of time, but if you are driven, if you are determinated and assume the sacrifices you can make it work. Be happy with all the little victories you conquer, but do not celebrate falling back to the same rathole you just climbed from. Keep kicking and pushing and working and fighting until you are free. And once you are Free, cherish the feeling, embrace your status and defend it!
You can do it, you just have to really believe that you can fly.
No comments:
Post a Comment