Yield Sign & RR-Xing – Warnings We Get in Life, What Can We Do?

Yield Sign & RR-Xing – Warnings We Get in Life, What Can We Do?

by | Life Questions and Answers

This is a real, honest-to-goodness road sign

I can’t make this stuff up! A Yield sign mounted right under a Railroad Crossing sign. Like there’s a choice? I found this just outside of Arlington, Washington, a town North of Seattle.

So … a Railroad Crossing sign telling you a really big, heavy, powerful monster of a machine comes through here. With two sets of train tracks no less. Two trains could pass through at the same time. And either train could push a truck down the track sideways without even breaking a sweat.

Oh but there’s more.

A Yield sign just below “The Monsters are coming for you!” sign. Telling you to give a thought, maybe two to yielding to the trains.

Some people take Yield signs to be optional. Maybe it’d be good to slow down, but not have to stop. Possibly even look both ways before entering the street. Or in this case running on top of the metal train tracks.

So why would anyone need to be warned to stay out of the way of a train coming right at them? Are some people so intent on doing things their own way that they ignore warnings? Really big warnings?

Or are they afraid to do it any other way than they’ve always done it because they might do it wrong, make a mistake? Even fail?

Let’s say they got there one second before the train. Would they figure because they got there first and were “technically in the right” the train had better stop for them? Or maybe they believe “Warning signs are for other people.


So what do these two signs have to do with “Things to watch(out) for in Life?”

You and I occasionally come across caution signs and WARNING! signs in life. We meet people or find ourselves in situations that nudge us one way or the other. Toward or away from someone or something. We get an sense, an inner feeling that something may be good or bad, right or wrong.`

What do you do when you “see” a Life warning sign? That something telling you inside to slow down. Be careful. Look again. Even to “Stop right now!” Think seriously about what you’re preparing to do or say. And even think twice about what you’re choosing to focus your thoughts on.

Our Thoughts are Powerful

Thoughts can turn into a decision to act or not act. Deciding not to act is a decision and an action in itself. Our thoughts that become decisions always bring change when acted on. Good or bad. If not to the outside world around us, then change to our inside world – our Body, our Soul and our Spirit [1 Thessalonians 5:23]. And if not a change directly within us, then a change for someone or something else.

Pay attention to this slightly sinking feeling, this inner warning, this nudge. Take time to think about it, pray for guidance, seek outside help if needed. Remember I am not a professional to seek help from. Then with that knowledge make your decision and act on your decision.

Now own your decision. Meaning accept, not just know but also accept that you made the choice and took the action. That the results of your decision and action are your responsibility.

If the results of your action lead to a new “warning” nudge be willing to ask God where this new inner feeling is meant to lead you. Maybe it’s not a warning sign but instead a “road sign” pointing to the “next step” to follow after the step you’ve recently taken. Or possibly asking you to modify your present action, or even change your original decision.

Your Life is your responsibility. Your choices are your own. And you have a Loving God more than Willing to help you when you ask Him. There are people who care for you, who Love you. If God brings you outside help, be accepting of His help. If it’s God’s Help it will be insightful, able to see things in a way you can’t because you’re too close to the situation. It will be truthful, honest. Even if it’s not what you want to hear but you know inside yourself what you’re seeing, hearing or feeling is right. It will be loving, supportive and truthful. That’s how God Works.

The moral of the story – when you feel a “warning” nudge first take a breath then say a prayer. Ask God to provide you with guidance and any help you may need. To bring understanding of what the feeling is about, why it’s there, what it’s trying to tell you. Very possibly you’re being made aware of a totally new concern in your Life. Or something you already know. Maybe something you don’t want to accept or face. Maybe like was just said above it’s actually a directional sign saying to continue in the direction you’re going. Not all nudges and signs are bad or meant to “scare” you. Or maybe you’re being told to turn down a new, better road. A new direction that will bring you a better life. Or maybe you’re being told to turn back. This way is not good for you or the ones you Love.

An action without thought is simply a knee-jerk reaction. Like when the doctor taps your knee with the little hammer to make your leg jump. A thought without a decision is just a dream. A thought that results in a decision coupled with action is Life. And decisions coupled with action that are made with careful thought and prayer, with God’s help which can come in any number of ways, lead you to your Best Life.

And God’s Blessings “self-multiply.” [How’s that for a new word? 😃] Not just for you but also for those you Love.

 

$aving on Medications Before and After Going on Medicare – Even for your Pets

$aving on Medications Before and After Going on Medicare – Even for your Pets

by | Easily Save Money, Preparing for Retirement

$aving Money on Medications
Before and After Getting on Medicare!
Even for your Pets!

Medical Prescription
Discount Cards and Apps

These cards and apps can be used whether or not you have health insurance coverage. The prescription discount card companies have made special arrangements with particular pharmacies. Doing this in such high volume made it possible for them to get you discounts on your prescriptions at no cost to you. So there should not be any membership fees when signing up for the prescription discount cards and apps.

 

The Way the Cards and Apps Work

You open the app on your phone or computer, such as GoodRx which I prefer. If you sign-up for GoodRx they will maintain a list of your medications for you and your location, making it simpler the next time you come back. You don’t however need to signup.

Type in the medication you need in the search bar. As you’re typing the app will generate a drop down list giving you different options based on what you’re typing, allowing you to simply click on the medication on the list rather than type it all in. Some of the apps don’t carry certain medications. If you don’t find it in one, try another app.

A list of pharmacies including, for the GoodRx app, Walmart, Safeway, Bartell Drug Co., Costco, Fred Meyer, QFC, CVS, Target, Rite Aid and Walgreen’s will appear in a list with pricing for the medication. You will be amazed at the price ranges between the different pharmacies, even when just across the street from each other. Sometimes it can be $100’s for the exact same medication.

Pick the pharmacy you like. You might want to call the pharmacy ahead of time to make sure they have the medication on their shelves. Then contact your Doctor to have their office fax a valid prescription to that pharmacy. If you need the medication sooner you might have to pay more to find a pharmacy with it immediately available.

Be sure to check with the pharmacy as they may have a different procedure to follow to get a discounted prescription with a particular card. Like I mentioned, you must have a valid prescription from your Doctor at the pharmacy.

Then show the pharmacist your discount card or discount screen on your phone. It’s that simple. Even more simple the next time.

 

Getting the Best Price$

If you find one pharmacy has a better price make sure to check that the pharmacy is covered by the card, follow the procedure they use with that discount card, and ask your Doctor to send the pharmacy a valid prescription prior to going in to pickup your prescription. Or you could ask the pharmacy where your prescription is to forward it to the other pharmacy that has the medication. You might just ask the pharmacy if they’ll meet the price of the other pharmacy.

Recently I had to pick up a medication at a local pharmacy. I somehow ended up paying out of pocket. Not sure why but that’s how it worked. So when the pharmacist rang up the price I asked her if she had any discounts the pharmacy could apply. She said to give her a few minutes and she’d be back. I guess she could see how “thrifty,” aka cheap I am.

She came back, said she found a discount coupon for the medication, a coupon I never saw, simply typed in a lower cost, I smiled, thanked her, paid and left.

It never hurts to ask if a discount is available. The worst that could happen is they say “No.” Otherwise you get your medication with more money left in your pocket.

And I understand the cards can be used in place of Medicare if they beat Medicare’s prices. However I haven’t seen a price lower than Medicare’s yet.

 

$aving Money on Pet Medication$!

One of the cards mentions on its website that it can be used for pet medications. We haven’t tried that yet but we will! I’ve learned some stores will allow the discounts, some won’t. Let us know what you find out.

Here are a few of the on-line
Medical Discount Cards and Apps

https://www.goodrx.com/
The app I like the best. Advertises you can save an average of 80%.

https://familywize.org/free-prescription-discount-card
Advertises you can save an average of 45%, good prices, beat GoodRx on one of my medications, not another. However I think their automated system switched back to the lower cost medication that doesn’t work for me. Which may be why they came out cheaper than GoodRx on the one medication. I wasn’t able to find out.

https://www.blinkhealth.com/
GoodRx beat their prices on 2 of my medications

https://www.rxpharmacycoupons.com/
Not impressed with their pricing but that was for my medications. Your medications may fair better.

https://easydrugcard.com/
Pricing tool appeared buggy to me. Couldn’t enter the right quantity for some of my medications.

https://www.singlecare.com/
Couldn’t find one of my drugs. Offered limited pharmacy coverage but does include some of the major pharmacies.

If you’re interested in checking out the OnLine and Mail-Order Medicine websites popping up I suggest you read an article from WebMD. It contains
9 Suggestions on what to watch out for when dealing with them. Such as: Is the Seller legitimate? Are their drugs safe?

This is not to say these websites are bad in any way. Just be careful with what you’re buying and control the information you provide them. As I find more information on these websites I’ll put out another post on the subject.

If you have any experience with these OnLine and Mail-Order Medicine websites please share that with me so the information can be shared with others in our GLY group. Thanks.

Don’t stop maybe saving even more money just yet … check out the “Now on to the Money $aving Part!” shown below that I came across for Medicare. Find out if a similar method can be applied to reducing your co-pay on any non-preferred prescriptions covered by your employer’s medical/drug plan. I don’t know if it can be done on your employer’s plan. But you won’t know unless you ask? Let me know what you find! Thanks.

 

$aving Money with Medicare

 

Using an Independent Medicare Plan D Broker

Kris and I asked around to find how people selected their Medicare Part D provider. Medicare Part D is also called the Medicare Prescription Drug Plan. We thought we found someone who was recommended by a friend. The person was initially very interested. But over time it became apparent they might not be that interested in helping us find the best deal. Kris is on several medications which takes some serious looking for the best, most cost effective plan for her.

We finally found an independent broker. This is someone who is not associated with a specific Medicare drug plan. Instead she buys into quite a number of different, independent plans. We gave her our lists. A few days later she came back with our options and pricing. Took a lot of work for her to do that.

Kris ended up with one Medicare Part D plan that best met her prescription and cost needs, I ended up with a separate one called SilverScript that best met mine.

I am NOT saying SilverScript is “the plan” for you. It depends on the medications you take and the Medicare Part D Formulary (drug list) covered by the Medicare Part D plan you choose. Please speak with your Medicare representative or Medicare broker, or use the Medicare Part D plan books yourself to determine the best drug coverage plan and pricing.

Per SilverScript,

“SilverScript Medicare Part D Formulary. A Medicare Part D drug list (Formulary) is a list of drugs covered by a plan. Formularies are developed to meet the needs of most members based on the most commonly prescribed drugs, including certain prescription drugs that Medicare requires that we cover.”
…

Federal law prohibits your Medicare Part D prescription drug plan from covering certain types of drugs, including:

  • Non-prescription drugs (also called over-the-counter drugs).
  • Drugs when used for treatment of anorexia, weight loss or weight gain.
  • Drugs when used to promote fertility.
  • Drugs when used for cosmetic or hair growth purposes.
  • Drugs when used for the relief of cough or cold symptoms.
  • Prescription vitamins and minerals (except for prenatal vitamins and fluoride preparations).
  • Drugs when used for the treatment of sexual or erectile dysfunction (ED).
  • Covered outpatient drugs which the manufacturers seeks to require as a condition of sale that associated tests or monitoring services be purchased exclusively from the manufacturer or its designee.”

There’s lots more “legalese” to wade through. This is why Kris and I decided to find an Independent Medicare Plan D Broker, someone not tied to a specific company’s drug plans. She was invaluable. We gave our Broker lists Kris and I made of all the prescription medications we are on. The Broker then price shopped and compared many different Medicare prescription drug plans for us. She also made the effort to see what pricing might look like next year. The Broker recommended one plan for Kris and a totally different plan and company for me. Each plan the best for our unique medication lists. Then when the next year rolls around we simply call our Broker, update any medications changes, and ask if we’re still in the best plans. The Broker recommends changes, or like last year no changes at all.

 

Now on to the Money $aving Part!

When I was on an employer’s medical and drug plan one of my medications cost me somewhere around $55.00 for 3 months. Once I got on Medicare the price jumped to $433.00 for 3 months. Somebody’s making a lot of money on this.

That was the best our Broker could find for me. GoodRx was $2-$3 more expensive.

Looking through the Medicare papers I noticed a footnote on one page that said if you can prove necessity for a different medication than the one Medicare recommends, Medicare might provide a Tier Reduction. Even our Broker said she didn’t know this. I appreciate her honesty. I work with people I trust.

Per SilverScript:

“Medicare Part D Formulary Tiers. Cost-Sharing Tier 1: Preferred Generic. Tier 1 is the lowest tier. Cost-Sharing Tier 2: Generic. Tier 2 includes preferred generic drugs. Cost-Sharing Tier 3: Preferred Brand. Cost-Sharing Tier 4: Non-Preferred Drug. Cost-Sharing Tier 5: Specialty Tier.”

The higher the Tier number generally the more expensive the drug. Mine was a Tier 4 drug. Very pricey.

I called SilverScript and asked for a Tier reduction. I was told the medication I was on was much more costly than the medication they wanted me to use. One minor problem – my Urologist and I had already gone through a full 3-months of testing the cheaper drug at progressively increasing doses. The final dosage required me to use so much of the cheaper medication to get the same effect as the more expensive medication, that the total cost of the cheaper medication was higher than the cost of the more expensive medication.

Different people respond to medications differently. In my case my system would not absorb the cheaper medication as well as it absorbed the more expensive medication. My Doctor thinks it may be because the more expensive medication that works for me is manufactured by a cosmetics company. Their skin care products are designed for best absorption.

Here’s the SilverScript information on a Tier reduction:

Re: Request for a lower Copay (Tiering Exception):

Information about this Request for a Lower Copay (Tiering Exception) Use this form to request coverage of a brand or generic in a higher cost sharing tier at a lower cost sharing tier. Certain restrictions apply. To process this request, documentation that all of drugs to treat the same medical condition on the lower cost sharing tier would not be as effective or would have adverse effects must be provided. Please provide clinical information or other evidence to support the medical necessity of the drug on the higher cost sharing tier, including previous drugs attempted for this patient’s condition. Please note: Tiering exceptions cannot be requested for non-formulary drugs approved under the formulary exception process, drugs in the specialty tier, or brand-name drugs at the price of a generic drug.

…

Where: *Copay, copayment or coinsurance means the amount a plan member is required to pay for a prescription in accordance with a Plan, which may be a deductible, a percentage of the prescription price, a fixed amount or other charge, with the balance, if any, paid by a Plan.

So my Doctor sent them all our test results. Medicare reduced my medication from a Tier 4 to a Tier 3 for the remainder of 2018. I went from paying $433.00 for 3-months to $85.00 for 3-months. All by dropping 1 Tier level.

 

The Story Gets Even Better (Not)

After all this work I contacted the mail-order pharmacy to make sure the Tier reduction would follow into 2019. I was told I’d have to “re-up” my Tier reduction but couldn’t do it until the last few days of the year. Don’t ask. I have no idea why.

So I waited obediently until just after Christmas. The person at the mail-order pharmacy said he found all my papers but my medication was no long Formulary. Meaning the pharmacy no longer covered this particular medication, so of course the Tier reduction was gone, too. After trying to find out what happened, he said it’d cost me over $200.00 every 3-months. I have no idea where that dollar figure came from. He was patient with my questions.

I finally asked to speak with his supervisor. He said he had to get permission for me to speak with the supervisor, so he’d get back to me. I waited, not wanting to get lost by calling back and forth. Finally he came back with his supervisor on the line. She had gone over the files and found the first person was wrong, the medication was still covered in their drug list, i.e. it is Formulary. I did have to get my Urologist to re-up the papers the pharmacy already had. While I waited, they contacted my Urologist who I called earlier to tell them what was going on and to please respond as soon as possible to the on-line pharmacy.

The supervisor, who was being very nice, got back on. My Urologist responded immediately. (Yeah! Love that guy!) So the supervisor then passed me to an on-line pharmacy person to review the files and determine if I could get the Tier reduction.

The on-line pharmacy person, also very nice, reviewed the files. We spoke briefly about why I couldn’t use the cheaper product as proved by 3 months of testing. She approved the Tier reduction.

All this took a full hour on the phone to accomplish. But I’m saving a ton of money.

 

The Moral of the Story

Check into possible Tier reductions on your prescriptions. Could save you a bundle of money.

If you must use a particular medication like I do, file for a Tier reduction to see if you can save some serious money. Be patient and polite when dealing with the on-line pharmacy. They have strange and wondrous rules they are required to follow. And they make mistakes like everyone else.

 

 

But wait – You’d think it couldn’t get any better … (deep sigh) it did

The mail-order pharmacy I had selected to fill my Medicare prescriptions normally sends me texts, asking if I want to put an order through, I respond with “Yes,” and the order appears within a week or so. My auto-orders were also on auto-pay. Super simple. Worked great. Everyone was happy.

I hadn’t been contacted for the past few months on my auto-order medications. Thought I better check. What I found was surprising and disappointing. I had been taken off auto-pay. When I asked why, no reason was given. They didn’t know. As a result I was overdue in my payments. However they never notified me my payments were overdue. And because I wasn’t paying for my medications, the pharmacy took me off auto-order. Sigh.

I paid the overdue bills, got back on auto-order and auto-pay. All is right with the world once again!?

 

The Moral of the Story – Part II

If something seems wrong with your prescription communications, delivery or pricing, it’s a very good idea to check it out.

Getting angry about something I have no control over is a complete waste of my time and energy. Anger makes others upset, sometimes even people not remotely involved in the situation, and complicates and delays most everything.

I’ve learned rather than be angry, use that time and energy to resolve the problem(s). Things get done more quickly with far fewer antacid tablets. And the next time you call them about an issue they won’t be heard saying in the background “It’s him/her again.”

This is Not to Say Ignore a Problem

Of course how far you take a problem depends on its severity. If life threatening I will go to the very top if necessary. If a problem is basically a “who cares” I’d most likely drop the entire thing and get on with Life. Why waste my time and energy over something that really doesn’t matter in the end.

If you think something is important enough that it needs fixing:

  • find out who to contact with your issues, get a name and their contact information
  • share your concerns directly with that person, staying calm, refusing to get angry
  • ask them to share the steps they propose to prevent this problem from happening again

Best if done in person or by phone. If done by email ask them to respond to your email to let you know they received it. And thank them for a quick response.

I’m careful to not come across as rude or angry. And by asking to see their proposed resolution I am demonstrating my interest in truly fixing the problem. 

 

Accomplishing Life Goals

Accomplishing Life Goals

by | Family and Marriage, Finances Are More Important than Money, Life Questions and Answers

What is a Life Goal?
How do I accomplish it?
How do I maintain it after I reach it?

GLY was created to help you accomplish your Life Goals

So what are Life Goals?

 

Let’s start out by saying Life Goals are much more than only a personal change for the better.
There are 7 important and very doable steps needed to accomplish any Life Goal.
It’s all based on the equation below.

(What, an equation? Bare with me …
I’m an Engineer, I can’t help myself!)

🙄

The Life Goal Equation

Life Goal =
(Love for Yourself + Love for Other People + Love for God)
X
(A Dream + The Plan + Determine the Resources + Schedule + Decide + Take Action)

So a Life Goal put simply is “Love x Effort”

This tells us without Love or without Effort no enduring Life
Goal can be accomplished.

In Math terms:
(No Love) X Effort = Love X (No Effort) = 0 (Nothing)

Love for Yourself AND for Other People AND for God is the Infinite Source of Power
required to successfully accomplish and maintain any Life Goal.

And Effort is a straightforward series of choices and actions that we must choose to make.

 

Did you notice two more things about the Life Goal Equation?

1) Your Love and Effort together Amplify, Magnify, Build-up, and Strengthen each other, helping you create your Life Goal.

Your Love amplifies
the power of your Effort.

And Your Effort amplifies
the power of your Love.

Working together Love and Effort form a Power to accomplish your Life Goals that is many times greater than either alone.

2) The Life Goal is about you and about Other People and about God. The Life Goal is not for you alone.

This simple equation ‘says’ a LOT.

Here are the
7 Steps to Creating, Achieving and Maintaining Life Goals

  • First Step: Love for yourself coupled with Love for other people plus Love for God
    • Love is the infinite power required to accomplish any Life Goal. Love amplifies everything you’ll do and multiplies the power of all the resources you’ll need to accomplish your goals. Choose to believe this. You’ll be so glad you did.
    • Love provides the energy to accomplish and maintain your Life Goals. What good is a goal if you reach it only to let it slip away?
    • Loving yourself and others is not complex or hard. It’s simpler than all of us often make it out to be. It’s simply realizing “Life is what it is.” We’ll get into how to do this without letting your feelings trip you up. Future posts will cover this.
      • Loving yourself and others is accepting
        • Where you and everyone else has been in the Past
        • The Past is gone.
        • Today is today, now, this moment.
        • Tomorrow isn’t even here yet.
        • Where you and everyone you Love are right now in your Lives.
    • Without this acceptance of reality you will find yourself constantly fighting in your own mind: yourself, others, the no-longer existing Past, and Present situations you have no control over. Huge wastes of your time and effort that can be best directed toward accomplishing your Life Goal.
    • This Love-fueled effort of acceptance makes it possible for you to move forward more powerfully toward your Life Goal.

       

  • Second Step: A Dream about what specifically can be a Positive in your Life and in the Lives of those you Love. Or Dream about specific ways you can help others. Or Dream about specific ways you can serve others, i.e. serve God.
    • Being specific helps you focus on what you really need more than what you want.
    • Take time to Pray about your Dream. Ask God to give you the Grace to see His Dream for you in this specific area and the Grace to help you accept His Dream for you as your own Dream.
    • Love then encourages you to take your Dream and move to the next Step.

       

  • Third Step: The Plan
    • Before you can accomplish ANY goal, you will want to take your Dream and write or draw a brief outline Plan of what your Life Goal is.
      • Put your outline either in words or drawn as a picture, whichever is easiest, more fun for you
      • The time you spend in this step “pays” for itself many times over.
      • I’ve seen companies that will not put in the extra efforts to properly plan their projects, to think them through in detail, consider alternative plans and options. The result is confusion, frustration, cost overruns, schedule delays, unhappy Employees and unhappy Customers, plus poorly documented end products that are often not as reliable as they could have been. And when the products fail or have a low manufacturing yield, it’s a fire drill of finger pointing to blame the “other guy.”
    • Focus on one specific Life Goal. After you write it down or draw it out, narrow it down even further. Refine the image you’re creating of your Life Goal.
      • An excessively large, non-specific, ‘multiple goals’ Life Goal, i.e. a “shotgun Life Goal” that cannot be accomplished is often a way of intentionally defeating yourself.
      • It’s you giving yourself an excuse, permission, making it “Ok” to tell yourself, to even prove to yourself you (1) could never accomplish your Life Goal(s), (2) you don’t deserve to reach that Life Goal, (3) “Your life sucks!”
      • Bottom line – by setting yourself up for defeat you are proving to yourself no one actually Loves you. Why? Because you are not Lovable. Why? Because you are a failure. IT’S NOT TRUE! You are ONLY a Failure when you refuse to Learn from the times you don’t Win.
    • In Life you can only be one of 3 types of people: a Winner, or a Learner, or a Failure. That’s it. I learned this years ago and had it repeated to me by a teenager I study Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) and Brazilian Jujitsu (BJJ) with.
      • When he wins an MMA or BJJ match he’s excited. 

      • When he loses a match he chooses to learn valuable lessons (plural) from the match. He learns even from the matches he wins.

      • He applies all these valuable lessons, win or learn, to future matches. As a result he wins a LOT of matches. He still loses a few. One very mature, very hard working young man.

      • Refusing to Learn from a Loss is true Failure. Refusing to Fail from the Loss results in true Learning.

    • Ask yourself what Efforts it will take to accomplish your Life Goal. Write or draw a list. Refine it. Get your list down to the specific Need, not just an “out there somewhere” Want.
    • What Efforts it will take to maintain your Life Goal after you have accomplished it. This is just as important as achieving your Life Goal. What good is accomplishing a Life Goal only to let it disappear? Again write or draw a list. Refine it.
    • Taking a comparatively small amount of time at the very beginning to write or draw the Plan for your Life Goal is a critical step.
      • Compared to wandering aimlessly, wasting your valuable time, efforts, and maybe even money without having created this road map at the start.
    • Leaving a Plan floating around in stray brain cells can lead to
      • Continuous changes piled on top of changes, confusion, frustration
      • Miss-directions resulting from forgetting details or being swayed by a mood or situation
      • Just dropping the Life Goal altogether because the Life Goal never stops changing and growing out of control.
    • It’s far better to accomplish part of a Life Goal than hide behind constantly improving the Plan and never taking the next steps.

  • Fourth Step: Determine the Resources needed to make your written Plan a reality. Resources like
    • Attending a weekend event or classes offered by a reliable person or group with a real track record
      • Strengthening and building an even happier Marriage
      • Healing a hurting and damaged Marriage
      • Building positive, self-reliant children
      • Financial stability, … the list goes on
    • Literature and videos on the topic of this specific Life Goal
      • Books
      • DVD’s
      • CD’s
      • Radio Station Hosts who specialize in helping people accomplish your specific Dream
      • On-line tutorials – YouTube, company websites. We’ll pass  along a number of amazing resources.
    • Professional help – Please note: I DO NOT OFFER PROFESSIONAL HELP IN ANY FORM
      • Medical – are physical illness or other physical issues, physical pain interfering in your Life
      • Psychiatric – are mental issues in the way, for example Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Depression, Anxiety, Stress, … .

          

  • Fifth Step: Schedule – put together a realistic timeline to accomplish your Life Goal
    • Pick a Start Date. Get a calendar and mark that date.
    • Establish several major milestones along the path to help you see progress toward your Life Goal
      • Milestones help you keep up the schedule’s pace and encourage you by showing you your successes
      • Mark the milestones on your calendar. Check them off as you make that milestone.
    • Based on the resources, dates of classes, how long a book will take to read, figure out a Finished Date
      • Mark your Finish Date on your calendar
      • Be realistic, neither overly optimistic nor pessimistic.

         

  • Sixth Step: Decide to follow your Schedule consistently.
    • Do something … anything … each and every day
    • This Decision is your commitment to yourself and to those you Love, including God
    • Don’t take too much time making your Decision by continuously refining your Dream down to the minutia
    • Quotes from General George Patton, a famous US Army General in WWII, made many excellent quotes on leadership, planning, God, decision making and much more:
      • “…an imperfect plan implemented immediately … will always succeed better than a perfect plan.”
      • “There are three ways that men get what they want; by planning, by working, and by praying. Any great military operation takes careful planning, or thinking. Then you must have well-trained troops to carry it out: that’s working. But between the plan and the operation there is always an unknown. That unknown spells defeat or victory, success or failure. It is the reaction of the actors to the ordeal when it actually comes. Some people call that getting the breaks; I call it God. God has His part, or margin in everything, That’s where prayer comes in.”
      • “Be willing to make decisions. That’s the most important quality in a good leader.”
      • “Good tactics can save even the worst strategy. Bad tactics will destroy even the best strategy.”
      • “Often I have encountered in life that great disappointments have proved to be the road to future successes.”
      • “Plans must be simple and flexible….They must be made by the people who execute them.”
      • “Don’t fall victim to what I call the ready-aim-aim-aim-aim syndrome. You must be willing to fire.”
      • “When a decision has to be made, make it. There is no totally right time for anything.”
      • “The time to take counsel of your fears is before you make an important battle decision. That’s the time to listen to every fear you can imagine! When you have collected all the facts and fears and made your decision, turn off all your fears and go ahead!”
      • “Successful generals make plans to fit circumstances, but do not try to create circumstances to fit plans.”

    • Decisions are powerful, not to be made or taken lightly. Your Decisions are the exercise of your Free Will.

  • Seventh Step: Take Action
    • Even the worst Plan has some success when it’s put into play.
    • Just think what your well thought out, well prepared Plan will do!
    • Your actions are making a Positive Life Change you choose to make in your own Life. But not just for yourself, also for those you Love.

Recap

A Life Goal is first loving yourself as seen by your acceptance of Life as it is. This acceptance makes it possible for you to Dream of a Life Goal, and couple that with a Plan. The Plan is used to base your decisions on Resources and Schedule.

Those decisions may include taking a new or different action, or taking no action at all. Or it’s a decision to change your way of seeing and thinking about something that does not or will not change. Deciding to change your response to something you don’t control. All meant to Improve and Enhance not just your Life but also the Lives of those you Love.

At GLY we present you with people, methods, and tools that Kris and I found still help us today to improve our Lives, our Finances, and our Family & Marriage.

We’ll combine that with what we’ve learned plus provide you with many tips and tricks we’ve picked up along the way. All which we believe will help you just like they help us and others we Love.

You won’t want to just reach the Life Goal, you will refuse to let ‘things go back to the way they were.’ Why? Because your Life Goal is not only about you. It’s also about those you Love.

This is True Love.

You might ask “Why do I need a Plan?”

Let’s say you’re the world’s best House Builder – You Build Amazing Houses

See that plot of bare land over there? Build a house right there.

One problem. You don’t have a house plan. How big is the house, what shape, where is it positioned on the land? How many rooms, where are they placed, closets, stairs, doorways, hallways, … . Don’t forget lights. Water goes in there somewhere, too.

Probably need a shower or bathtub otherwise the neighbors will complain. Oops, forgot the garage for 1 or 2 cars, maybe 3. Attached? Oh and put in some windows. A front door would be nice.

Now get people to do the work. Schedule when they each show-up to do their work. Kicking off the project.

This is not a house I’d buy. You?

Without a Plan and following the steps outlined above you’re left only with a Dream, never reaching a Life Goal.


Intentionally taking the necessary extra time up-front to plan your Life Goal will accomplish several things for you:

  • More clearly show you what you’re building – your Life, a Marriage, a Family. Putting critically important pictures of your goal in your mind. Establish targets that aren’t moving and changing all the time. But which can be adapted as necessary.
  • Help you realize and look for the resources you’ll need to reach your goal. Answer questions like – Will you need to give up something? Consistently spend scheduled time every day on your goal? Find resources: books, CD’s, DVD’s, presentations, conferences, … ? Search out additional help – family, friends, maybe even professional help which I do not offer or provide!
  • Help you establish a timeline for your Life Goal so you establish an urgency to attaining it. You won’t let things drag forever. In other words, you’ll reach your Life Goal.
  • The Life Goal you’ll reach will be very close to what you envisioned at the beginning.
  • Possibly save you Money, Time, Confusion and antacid tablets.

Will you reach your Life Goals?
It depends on you. We’re here to help.

Will you be closer to attaining what you truly need in your Life Goal after you first plan the Goal? I’m sure of it.

Let’s get started!

Helping Damaged or Failing Marriages

Helping Damaged or Failing Marriages

by | Family and Marriage, Healing a Seriously Hurting, Failing-Marriage

Link to www.MarriageHelpNW.com

The website for 

Kris and I work with

a wonderful and very dedicated group of people to help save marriages that are hurting terribly or in serious trouble, even failing. This same group helped us when we desperately needed it. So now we work with them to help save other marriages. This international group is called Retrouvaille, pronounced re-trō-vī, French for “rediscovery.”

Retrouvaille is a World-wide Christian Peer Ministry made up of Couples who have been where you are or worse. We Healed and Renewed our Marriages with work using the communications tools and insights we learned in Retrouvaille, and without question with God’s Help.

Although Retrouvaille is Catholic in origin and orientation it is open to all married couples regardless of religious, or lack of religious background.

 

Retrouvaille had its Beginnings in the Province of Quebec, Canada in 1977

The first Weekend program was presented to French-speaking couples. Later it was translated into English by the Retrouvaille community of Toronto who also strengthened the contents and developed the Post-Weekend phase.

In 1982, the Toronto community began sharing the program with other communities throughout Canada and the United States. From there it spread.

Retrouvaille communities now actively serve world-wide: most of the United States, many provinces of Canada, Central and South America, Africa, Europe, Mexico, the Western Pacific region (Australia, Malaysia, New Zealand, and the Philippines), and the Caribbean region (Cuba and Trinidad).

As of 2016 Retrouvaille is officially recognized by the Vatican as a ministry within the Roman Catholic Church.

There is no attempt to convert anyone to or from any religious beliefs. The sole purpose of Retrouvaille is to save marriages. Yes, we believe God is the Power within our Marriages and Families, keeping them alive, healthy and growing stronger.

Our Seattle Retrouvaille Group as well as All Retrouvaille Groups World-wide

are made up of unpaid Volunteer Couples who have already been through Retrouvaille themselves to save, rebuild and strengthen their own marriages. We’ve been very highly trained to make our presentations consistent and in-line with Retrouvaille International‘s guidelines.

Retrouvaille of Seattle is affiliated with Retrouvaille International. The information and ideas expressed on our Seattle website are not reviewed or endorsed by Retrouvaille International.

 

So why do we do this?

We are grateful for our renewed marriages, our new and better communications skills, and new insights that help us see things in much better, clearer ways. We also want to associate with other couples working to continuously build-up and strengthen their marriages. People we consider Family. And we want to share the Gifts we received from God through Retrovaille with others who are where we were.

 

Welcoming you to the Growing Less Young “GLY Life Blog”

Welcoming you to the Growing Less Young “GLY Life Blog”

by | Family and Marriage

This is the First Growing Less Young (GLY)
GLY Life Blog Post
(GLY is pronounced ‘GLEE’)

A Very Brief, High-Level Overview of What GLY is About

My Lovely Wife, Kris, and www.GrowingLessYoung.com growing less young with me.
Mike and Kris Andrews – The Creators of GLY

 

“Life is what it is.”
I’m not being harsh here, just honest

We all have many Life Choices we make every single day.

Growing Older is a Life Choice
Growing Less Young is a Life Choice

What Life do you Choose now, this today, this minute – for the rest of your Life?

My wife Kris and I will share what we’ve learned and continue to learn about Life, Love, God, Family and Country.
Including resources, insights, techniques, plus what worked and what didn’t work for us on a number of important aspects of Life we all face.
We’ll also share from others whom we highly respect. People who have also successfully navigated sometimes serious ups-and-downs in their Lives.

GLY’s topics include but are not limited to (meaning this is the tip of the iceberg):

  • Growing through and surviving “Life stages”
    • The dreaded Teen Years – The “What was that?” years

      • Understanding the world around you while trying to understand yourself

      • Trying to understand your parent

      • Peer pressures, drugs, school, fitting-in, … and much more

    • Young Adult Years – The “What’s going on and what’s coming next?” years
      • School, College or Trade School or Job
      • Future jobs (plural)
      • Dealing with people in the workplace
      • Enjoying Life while trying to keep your head above water
    • Adult Years – Life Decisions and more
      • Engagement – what to consider, questions to ask your loved one and yourself, answers to thoughtfully come up with
      • Marriage – much more to consider, more questions to ask and answer. This is one reason Engagement is such an important step.
      • Children – PROOF that God has a sense of humor
      • Deciding to not get married and have children
    • Empty-nest – Exciting at first but can get pretty quiet. Grandchildren?
  • As you age – Health, finances, changes you can’t control, …

     

  • Speaking of Finances – Finances are more than just money!
    • Planning your finances, plus sharing some of our own financial ups and downs, some successful, some not so much
    • Simple, creative ways to $ave money – kind of fun!
    • Making money from home – exciting work
    • Preparing for retirement, a long term effort. Hint: don’t wait until you retire.
  • Dealing with parents – No matter their age or yours
    • Dealing with parents while you’re young
    • Dealing with parents as they age
    • Dealing with the loss of a parent
  • Plus topics you would like to added

When we don’t know something we’ll tell you.
We’ll also try to find those answers for both of us.

Visit GLY’s website today and get started on your Best Life Now.

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