Economic News vs. Heart Health

I feel overwhelmed, stressed, concerned, worried, afraid, and angry! These are some of the many different emotions people feel daily during an economic downturn. Yes, it is important for health and well being to acknowledge these feelings. But we do not want to let them rule our everyday lives. Stress affects our mood, which in turn raises blood pressure, increases or decreases weight and drains energy. These all have bad effects on our hearts and overall health. So what can we do? First, eat healthy well balanced meals and snacks, staying away from high fat foods when possible and find ways to combat stress. The following are suggested ideas for lowering stress: · Read humorous or feel good stories to calm the mind · Exercise to burn off stressful feelings · Limit your access to news · Spend time with your family doing something fun and free! Go play outside, go on a bike ride or go walking or hiking. · Petting your dog or cat is known to lower blood pressure · Get adequate sleep · Talk and LISTEN to your family · Do something good for others · End each day with positive thoughts such as “I am grateful for…” We don’t have the power to change the news but we can change how we react to the news. Do things to help family, friends, neighbors, and the local community. There are many free or low cost ways to contribute, help at a soup kitchen or donate food or clothing to shelters. This goes a long way in handling the many strong negative emotions that tax our heart’s health. Positive talk and thoughts also help balance all the bad news bombarding us through the media. Keep a journal or as a family, share at dinner what each family member is grateful or what nice things someone else did for you today. So as I lay down to sleep tonight to keep my heart healthy “ I am grateful for my family and good health”. What are you grateful for? What ideas have you used to handle the daily stress caused by the economy?

Financial Planning for Young Couples

At this time of year, many young couples are busy planning for spring weddings. Their thoughts are focused on menus, dresses, honeymoons and all of the many things that go along with a wedding. Unfortunately, conversations between couples rarely hit on one of the most important issues they will encounter in their new life together – money management. Many marital conflicts revolve around spending, saving and making money.

Decisions such as opening credit card accounts, having joint or individual banking accounts, deciding on large purchases, purchasing insurance and who will manage the money are among the many things that need to be discussed. Because of the potential conflict involved with money management, it is important that couples communicate openly on the subject. We usually come to a relationship with our expectations based on past experiences and what we observed in our own family situations. Obviously our vision and our partner’s vision of money management can differ greatly. Through open, honest communication, couples can share their feelings and talk about what is important to them - whether that is a house, exotic vacations, additional education, etc. Couples also need to determine who will pay the bills and whether accounts will be shared. If you resent having to ask your partner for money, this feeling needs to be shared during this discussion.

One good starting point is to identify financial goals and how the couple might reach those aspirations. This discussion will lead to the development of a spending plan. The first step in making a spending plan is to write down how much income you have and what expenditures you expect. Both partners need to be involved in planning how income will be spent. Talk about ways to spend and stretch the budget. If there is not enough money for everything, then it will be necessary to generate more income or reduce some expenses to make the budget work. Many couple get themselves into financial “hot water” by filling the gaps in their spending plans by using credit cards.

Finally, couples need to take time to regularly evaluate their spending plan. Determine what is working and what is not. Try not to criticize or blame your partner, but instead focus on alternatives and how to make the spending plan work.

So as you finish your wedding plans, please take time to talk about the resources that will be used to support you after the big event. Be prepared to find differences in what each of you feels is important in financial management and continue to keep those lines of communication open.

The Value of Grandparents

I’ve heard the standard cute sayings about grandparents and have had friends tell me how wonderful it is to become a grandparent but never did I fully understand the joy and wonder that comes with this role until experiencing it myself. As a young mother I think I was so busy handling the routines of life, feeling exhausted and yet wanting it all to be so perfect that I missed a lot of those special moments that I am capturing right now as a grandma. To hold that new life and marvel that only yesterday that baby’s parent was your baby is almost beyond comprehension. People ask what name my granddaughter will call me. I have given it some thought but when it comes right down to it, she may call me whatever she chooses. I just want her to call me. I want to be a grandma who will be there ready to listen and ready to share in the fun. Children learn so much from the connections they make with adults from various generations. The world we grew up in is so very different from the one our grandchildren will inherit yet the need for human companionship and relationships will always remain. So how can we foster those relationships with our grandchildren, nieces, nephews, any young child in our lives? Buying fancy gifts and spending lots of money are not necessary to develop relationships. Relationships begin by just being there and getting to know those things that interest each child. It also means sharing those things that we have a passion for with the children in our lives. Invite children to help you bake, garden, walk with you, engage in a sport or hobby, whatever it is you enjoy doing. Children will learn more from you than the activity you are engaged in. Children need role models who can show them how to handle the challenges and disappointments in life as well as life’s joys. A person who will listen without judging, offer wisdom and advice without preaching, who is willing to share their own mistakes and who is there to acknowledge a child will help to develop character and self esteem along with some pretty terrific memories. Parents need the support of their elders too. Parenting is a difficult job. Parents today are often juggling jobs, children and family. These can be daunting and exhausting tasks for anyone. An unfortunate consequence of our mobile society is the distance that often separates extended families. There are many ways we can maintain communication in this technological world yet nothing is more valuable than human contact. If your own grandchildren are far away, try and find a young family who is missing their grandparents. Offer to spend time with their children while providing that missing support for both of you.