Hello.   My name is Susan and I live in Seattle, Washington.    A few months ago, I was talking to a co-worker and we were just kind of bitching about our lives – all work and no play makes Susan a dull girl and all that – and I came to a startling realization:  I have no hobbies.

This is not a big deal, really.  Lots of people are far too busy to indulge in hobbies.   I’m not sure however, if I’m one of those people.  I’ve never been married and I have no kids, not even a pet.  What I do have:  massive debt, a messy house, chronic health problems, a non-existent love-life and two jobs – one of which I hate.

Of course, these issues didn’t just crop up overnight.

Sitting there with my coworker, complaining about our lives had become a routine.  But on this occasion I felt like I had hit some kind of epiphany.  I was a boring person.  All I did was complain about my job – and having that job was completely in my control.  And because my job is not the kind that people fantasize about, it’s really my life that makes me who I am.   In my youth, I travelled a little, had lots of interests, went out to feed those interests, read books and went out with my friends and talked a lot and laughed a lot.

But I no longer have a life.  I have complaints.  I have debt.  I have hypertension, high cholesterol and Type 2 Diabetes.  But no hobbies.  How does a person have no freaking hobbies?!  I am no longer interesting because I am no longer interested.

But that’s not really true or fair to me.  I am interested in life.  I am just too busy or too tired to live the life I want to live.  How the hell did that happen?  My work is supposed to support my life, not be my life.  Holy cow, I’m not a doctor saving lives or a teacher shaping our future; I’m a freaking data processor.

I know it’s taken years for me to get to this point.  Like I said, these issues didn’t happen overnight.  Because I was not proactive, in essence, I cultivated my own misery.

It’s time to take control of my life.  This blog will follow my goals and achievements (and probably some failures).  I have to change…everything…

Yikes!  I have to change EVERYTHING!  Lose weight.  Find a way to stay fit.  Get off all my meds.  Pay down my debt.  Make repairs on my home and car.  Declutter.  Get a new job – and not just another job; the right job for me.  Oh, and find my soulmate.  No biggie.  When will I find time to squeeze in a hobby or two?

I’ve separated my life into 3 parts that need attention:  Money, Health and Spirit:  fix my finances, repair my health and renew my soul.