As a family we have been looking for ways to increase cashflow due to a recent change in our situation...
This is not some negative event that has turned our own finances against us but rather it is a positive change that sees us finally take control over our financial destiny.
Trust me when I tell you, it has been a LONG time coming!
This does prompt the question though, What are my marketable skills?
I hope to find time to write about it tomorrow, if I have the mental and physical capacity after a 12 hour dayshift, that is never a given depending on the work I am doing.
Speaking of tomorrow, here in the UK it is Mothers day - That will be become more and more relevant as I continue writing this post.
I'd like to take a moment to send the very best wishes to all the Mothers out there, wherever you may be in the world. You undertake one of the most challenging, underappreciated jobs on the entire planet. From wiping bottoms to night feeds to dealing with teen angst, and breakups you take it all in your stride. Although in many ways it is an incredibly fulfilling role sometimes us kids (I'm 50 next year so that's not strictly how I should describe myself lol) do not appear to appreciate just how magnificent you are! But we know it and even those times when we didn't fully celebrate you for it we deeply love you for it.
My lovely lady, whom I share my life with is an utterly wonderful Mother to my 2 beautiful girls. Sadly, she lost her Mum a couple of years back and still struggles with this at times BUT this Mothers day she made a decision to get in on the hustlin' act to help with our latest financial challenge (as I said earlier, the challenge is a positive one) and do her bit for a little positive cashflow to help us to move forward.
My lady, (Terry) has never had a massive amount of confidence in herself or valued herself and her skills all that much. We have always been a little short of money in our life together and always played catch-up financially, yet have always been very much in love, overjoyed with our children and most importantly, happy.
So when my Nanna (Grandmother), who was incredibly important to us both, died a few years ago, we didn't have much spare cash for floral arrangements to take on our regular visits to the cemetery, so Terry started to pick up cheap bunches of flowers and bunches that had been price reduced and needed a little TLC and she would try different things and the upshot is that she made some amazing arrangements and made a lot from a little.
For many a year I had asked her what interested her, what hobbies she would love to pursue and could perhaps be monetized rather than her taking a dead end job like mine. She never knew how to answer and always came up short on ideas. I think she could not view herself as anything more than a Mother and a partner, but I always pointed out that she was important too and she should pursue interests and try and find fulfilment in something that was 'just hers'
One day before a visit to the cemetery, I saw how proud she was of this beautiful little floral basket arrangement she had made and then it hit me like a bolt of lightning.
"That's it! That's your thing!"
She looked at me quizzically and I explained that she was amazing with flowers and made it look so effortless, she was better than most florists because of how much love and care she put in to it and maybe it was something she should pursue.
She instantly told me how she was not academic and could not 'cut it' in college, she was convinced everyone would be so much better than she was, I assured her I would help her with the homework, coursework and (we later learned) Latin botanical names for a myriad of flowers and plants and I assured her that if it wasn't working out she could leave but nothing ventured nothing gained, right?
She attended an open day to learn about the 2 year course and disappointedly told me when she returned home that she couldn't do it, because there was a lot of costs of materials she would need each week...
But I could see a passion in her eyes that she finally had discovered something in which she took great pride and had begun to value herself as an individual, separate from Mother and Partner, I assured her we would find the money somewhere and indeed we did.
So many times she returned home beaming with pride that she had been given a merit or even a distinction for her work I was so bloody happy for her and after 2 years she passed her course and achieved a qualification with flying colours.
Although I do believe some of those certificates were for MY awesome Latin pronunciation and teaching skills BUT I let her have the moment 😂
Who knew, my amazing lady who would have told you without hesitation that she had no marketable skills was now a certified florist! She was proud of herself and I was proud of her too, ENORMOUSLY SO!
Long story short, She doesn't currently work in a florist, although she has, many times over the last few years, there are several reasons why, they actually all make a lot of sense. She will always have that skill though, no-one can ever take that or her accomplishment from her and she still enjoys nothing more than messing around with flowers and making unusual creations.
Hopefully I can tell you tomorrow night why we need a little excess cashflow atm but as you have probably gathered from the photos throughout this post Terry brought a smile to the face of many Mothers this Mothers day weekend.
In turn, she has helped our imminent situation out too. I think it is true of anyone that learning a marketable skill always gives you options that will ensure you will never starve or be out on the street, in a pinch these skills can be monetized to help you navigate this short term difficulty.
Terry was by no means what you would call young when she undertook this learning journey but that does not matter a jot. I too am teaching myself skills I would never have dreamed I would need atm even though I am approaching the half century mark.
Except for a few practicalities and inevitabilities age is pretty much just a number and not much of a barrier to anything, unless you ALLOW it to be.
Is there something you have always yearned to do, to try your hand at, is there an experience you have always wanted to have? Have you been calling it unfeasible for reason that may not be entirely accurate?
Maybe it's time to think again.
You are probably capable of way more than you think.
Thank YOU for taking the time to read my post and if you're one of those amazing people who like to hit the comments section... Then I doubly thank YOU!
Either way I want you to know that you are appreciated!
Keep taking the time to connect with each-other both here and in the 'so-called' real world and try and look after each-other, because as you already know...
