For those of you that don’t know me I was a fairly portly kid growing up. At about 14 years old I remember going to the doctors and stepping onto the scale and into a great depression. I was only 5’3” at the time and had a very squeaky voice. In Jr. High I was labeled the fat kid. The boys from church were way too cool for me and kids at school labeled me Ralph Wiggum like as in Ralph from the Simpson’s because of my portly stature and my terribly squeaky voice.
The peak of my embarrassment as I recall was in gym class at the beginning of my sophomore year when as a class, we were being called to the front one by one to do pull-ups for a physical fitness test while everyone looked on. “BICKLEY”, Coach Johnson yelled out. I cringed and mopily walked to the front of the class for my turn at the pull-up bar. I climbed up to the dreaded pull-up bar and with all the effort I had in me completed not one, not two, but ZERO pull-ups! As if my lack of ability wasn’t bad enough Coach Johnson yelled out for me to get back up there and try again. And yet again I completed an amazing ZERO pull-ups. Then I had to turn around and face my walk of shame; left, right, left, right, left, as I walked back through the crowd of my classmates, hearing their whispers of ridicule and their looks of both disgust and even pity - the chubby kid that couldn’t even do a pull-up.
I decided that something had to change. I started to take my time in gym class very seriously. My work ethic at our family-owned grocery store started to improve. I watched my skinny older brother working hard, fast and lifting lots of cases of groceries. I started mimicking him and started to see results and got excited. The next year I added an extra gym class so that I was working out daily. I made good friends of my gym coach and asked his advice, started eating healthier, and started doing more active activities. There were even many times when my coach cleared out the weight room and while the other kids went back to shower I would go out and run some more around the track before going to work.
Why am I admitting all this to you? Because when I decided I didn’t want to be the fat kid anymore, I realized I couldn’t take a pill or just snap my fingers to get in shape. I needed to make a lifestyle change. And so I did! I still have to be aware of what I am eating - in fact I have not had a drink of soda since I was in high school, and I still exercise regularly.
As it was with me to get physically fit, the same is needed to be financially fit. It is a lifestyle decision. If I want to be physically fit I have to live a certain lifestyle. If you want to be financially fit you have to live a certain lifestyle. And that is why I am here. Getting financially fit isn’t easy. I have designed this blog to be an aid for those of us that would like to overcome our financial weakness, to obtain financial fitness.
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