I had an amusing experience this morning that really got me thinking. My neighbors were having a giant multi-family yard sale. My kids had walked over to their house the night before as they were setting up and just started drooling over the exhilarating array of magnificent toys. They begged us to wake them up the next morning before the yard sale was set to open so they could buy what they wanted before someone else swooped in and beat them to it. I laughed the next morning as I practically whispered a wake- up-call to my boys, who are usually anything but happy to climb out of bed in the morning. They shot out of bed like two little rockets and frantically dressed themselves.
About 20 minutes later, they gleefully came home with their spoils. My younger son had exercised great restraint in only spending $1.75 as he is trying to save for an electric scooter. My older son had unabashedly spent every penny he possessed. After helping his sister with a project she is working on to earn money for a special trip she is saving for, he found himself with a modest amount of money in his possession once again. And the yard sale was still in full swing! He could hardly contain his excitement! Even after great discouragement from me (after all, I don't really want to have a yard sale at my house next week to prevent the toy box from exploding) he quietly slipped out the door once again. He smugly returned with more treasures and no more pocket-burning money to his name.
I was musing over what had evoked this behavior in him while my other kids had managed to find enough self-discipline to overcome their desire to spend more. I realized my 'savers' had a goal. Something important they were saving for. The goals they had each set had been just enough to keep them from making the choice to empty their hungry little piggy banks.
How interesting. My thoughts turned to a decision my husband and I made recently. He has always felt a great drive to get out of debt. I finally got a little crazy and decided we had better set a concrete goal if we were ever going to get our house paid off. A short time ago, we made what would seem a pretty impossible goal, setting a time-line for paying off our mortgage. I hesitated to set such a goal because... how could I go on if we failed? We would certainly feel like pathetic losers if we didn't reach our goal, and then where would we be!? Since finally making the decision two things have happened.
First: We have been shocked to see things fall into place to refinance at a lower rate and for a much shorter term without raising our payment above what we were already paying. Our goal seems much more possible than it did just a few short months ago.
Second: I have learned a lesson about goals. It is much better to set a goal that may seem impossible and end up doing something great, though perhaps slightly short of my actual goal, than to float through life without a direction and never stretching and reaching to attain wonderful things. I had heard the old adage, "Shoot for the moon. Even if you miss, you'll land among the stars.” from Les Brown. Somehow I had never understood or really believed it, but now you can bet next time there is a yard sale on my street, my kids and I will be prepared with a goal of what we want to work and save for.... and if we're lucky we won't have to knock out a wall to expand our toy room...
