Pretty much everyone feels their lives would be better if they only had just a little more money. But then we get a little more money, like a raise, and our lives are better for a spell then they go back to where they were… and we go back to thinking our lives would be better if we only had a little more money.

When we do have an increase in income, usually we clutter our lives with more stuff or services. We put ourselves in a position where we’re now attached to a number of other people for this or that. I think this is where the “More money, more problems” phrase comes from. In addition, if you own your own business with employees, problems compound.

But, let’s face it, most of us would love the problem of trying to figure out where to invest our mounds of cash. (I say that tongue-in-cheek.) Having no money is a problem. There’s no escape from having no money, no way to hold off on decisions and “sleep on it.” When we don’t have the money to pay the electric bill, the electric company turns cuts us off. Sure it’s nice and dark but we can’t sleep for worry of how to get the service back on when it takes money to to that… the same money we didn’t have to keep the lights on in the first place.

Not all poverty is self-imposed. There are situations where good people find themselves struggling with finances. And struggles with finances lead to struggles with marriage and children and even with our own confidence.

But there’s a silver lining. If we are, in fact good, we can count on others to help us out. If we have helped others out in the past, it’s likely they’ll come through for us in a crunch. It’s actually a good thing to be broke and have to depend on others because, only then, do we know who our real friends are. And those friends may not even have money of their own but they’ll spend time with us or give us the shirt off their own back.

So those big problems that come from a small bank balance can be a blessing. I believe most blessings aren’t monetary (regardless of what the televangelists tell us). Blessed are the poor indeed.

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It’s the New Year and I haven’t heard many folks talking about their New Year’s Resolutions. In fact, I hear more people talking about how they’re not going to make a resolution because they never pan out. This is good and bad.

My boss says that he doesn’t make resolutions, rather he has goals. I think this is a good idea. We came to the conclusion that resolutions tell the world “I want to stop being a loser” while goals tell the world “I want to continue being a winner.” Face it, we resolve to do things because we want to be better people. If we didn’t feel like a loser, we wouldn’t want to change.

New Years already?

I too have things I hope to accomplish this year. It may sound strange to some, but my New Year has already happened – it came about in September. I follow the Bible calendar which would pretty much equate to the Hillel II calendar from what I understand. For anyone at all curious, I’m what would be considered a “Messianic.” Basically, that means I’m a “Christian” who worships in a “Jewish” way. (Ten minutes of reasearch will give you an indication of why I used the quotation marks.) I don’t say the above because I’m trying to push any spiritual beliefs on anyone, just giving a bit of a backdrop.

So since my New Year started in September, I should be miles ahead of everyone, right? Wrong. I did make some goals for the year but since then I’ve had a change of heart. I had wanted to really push the comic and the zine (BURRITO) to give me a greater income. But that just doesn’t sit well with me. I’m not saying that it’s wrong to have the comic as one’s source of income – I look up to guys who can do it. I don’t think that’s what’s in the cards for me at this time. My heart’s being pulled in another direction.

Those who can’t, teach?

We’ve all heard the saying, “Those who can’t, teach.” I don’t deny that there’s truth in it. After all, there are thousands of teachers from all walks of life and all backgrounds. Who knows how many fit this criteria? All I know is that I’m finding more of a calling to teach than to simply promote my product. In fact, I’d love to help people get better and use my efforts to promote their products. By myself, I feel selfish. Perhaps that means I “can’t.” I can live with that.

At the same time, I feel that I have skills in drawing and writing. And I enjoy helping others better their craft. I’ve been told that I’d make a great teacher and I’m thinking it’s time I give it a shot… somehow.

To what degree?

Here’s a drawback: I don’t have a college degree. I reckon I could go back to school to get one but I’m in no position (or so I think) to do that at this time. Nor do I want to wait. I’ve heard chatter around the campfire that there are programs to get teachers certified while they’re working. This interests me. I also am willing to use my business as a way to teach – private tutoring or art classes. I’d prefer not to do the latter because it can limit the students to those who have money. That’s not a bad thing, I just have a heart for the everykid.

Gotta start somewhere

I’m making inroads already. I’ve got a meeting set up that may get me somewhere. I don’t know where but somewhere. I also am going to see about getting into the system – public schools, charter schools, universities, whatever – and work from the inside.

What does this have to do with you? Well, I hope it inspires you a bit, not to be a teacher, but to do what your heart wants to do. Everyone has a different heart, a different calling. I’ve ignored my calling so long that it almost stopped calling. And that’s a sad place to be. So wherever you are, whatever you do or hope to do, don’t give up on pursuing what you believe God made you to be. That there’s the lesson.

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Click here to go to the BURRITO store

Too often we let that nerd inside starve while the geek gets overfed. Don’t get me wrong, both need sustinance, but the geek gets a huge dose of pop culture junk food while the nerd is looking around for a funny algebraic reference in the back of the fridge. BURRITO will help satisfy his hunger!

What is BURRITO? Simply put, it is a humor magazine (with “Perk at Work” in it btw). Strangely, it is not filled with cold hard facts and data but rather a humorous look on life on this earth (and beyond) that strangely appeals to the nerd within.  Who is “the nerd within”? He’s the guy in each of us that sits off to the side and evaluates and analyzes life. And while he’s inside us, rarely do we listen to him, much less let him out of his well-kept room. Most of the time, he’s the voice that tells us we’re doing something stupid and why it’s stupid and we yell back “Shut up, egghead!” and he quietly reverts back to said well-kept room.

That’s ok. The nerd within doesn’t necessarily need to be the dominating aspect of our ego, at least not for non-nerds. But he doesn’t get the nourishent that he needs. Much like some vitamins that help specific parts of our physical body, there are “mental” vitamins that help sustain our physcological bodies. That nerd within needs to laugh every now and again. Just look at him, he’s wasting away! He’s already a 90 lb. weakling and we’re doing nothing to help him! Such tragedy! Enter comedy. (The nerd inside was just nourished with that last little “vitamin”.)

BURRITO is available through the website burritomagazine.com. You can get the printed version (recommended for bathroom reading) for $3 + shipping and handling or you could get the PDF version (also recommended for bathroom reading via electronic device) for only 99₵. If you’re nervous about using electronic devices due to either A) a fear of dropping them into the toilet, or B) Big Brother somehow watching you through your electronic device, or C) both A and B, you can always print up your BURRITO PDF and take that into the bathroom. Big Brother has yet to find a way to spy on you though paper. And remember, you don’t need to “use” the bathroom to go in there and read, just put the toilet seat lid down and sit on that. Or, if you’re feeling crazy, bring a blanket and lay down in the bathtub with your new BURRITO. Or I guess you can read it anywhere really.

So follow one of the many links in this blog post to the BURRITO Magazine site. We’ve got stuff from previous issues posted there for you to read for free if you can’t part with the 99₵. Read a bit for free and see if you want the new goods! Feed that nerd and he’ll be thankful.

BURRITO Magazine: Stuffed with stuff!

p.s. Don’t eat food burritos in the bathroom. That’s just gross!

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