Today is a day of remembrance of an incredibly tragic day in American history. When the September 11th attacks happened, I was a sophomore in high school and I remember sitting in my AP Biology class discussing with classmates the events of what was happening on the East Coast. I remember the sense of incredible sadness and disbelief I felt in knowing that people could perpetrate such an act. On this tenth anniversary, I feel so blessed to be an American and to live in the best country in the world.
In thinking about what to write for this blog entry, I decided to reflect on the quote that the "best things in life are free." Sometimes, it's easy to feel "poor" because we have bills, student loans, and other obligations to pay. Because of this, we may lose sight of the riches that we have in our life including: health, family, and friends--these are invaluable and irreplaceable in my opinion. We may not always have the largest bank account, but wealth can be measured in multiple different ways. With that in mind, I decided to share some of my favorite free things or low-cost things in life:
1) Public Library/Used Book Store: Anyone that knows me knows that I'm a huge nerd. I love to read and I am a big fan of the public library. My parents instilled an appreciation of education and learning in me because they once told me, "You can have all the riches in the world, but all of that can be taken away. The things that cannot be taken away is your mind and your education." Growing up, my family didn't have cable and I read a lot of books. I remember going to library since I was a little girl and getting to pick out any book that I wanted to read. It was always so exciting. I remember getting my first library card when I was 7 and signing the back of it with my newly learned cursive skills. I love that the library offers books, magazines, and DVDs available for checking out. I really enjoy sitting and flipping through all the issues of a certain magazine or even flipping through magazines that I would never spend money on like the tabloids (hahah..yes, I admit..some tabloids are my guilty pleasure) And most library systems are connected in which if your local library doesn't offer a book, you can request a book from another branch. Reading is a great past-time and I don't feel the need to buy a book just to read it once. If I end up loving a book and I need my own copy, I prefer a used bookstore or buying a used copy on Amazon. To me, there is no difference between a new book and and a gently used book since they have the same purpose..for my eyeballs to read. :-)
2) Nature: I think God's paintings are the best paintings in the world. There are no words to describe a beautiful sunrise or sunset. In my opinion, the outdoors and nature are amongst the best free things in life. I have a desk job where I sit in front of computer for 8-10 hours a day. Therefore, whenever I have a chance, I try to get outside and enjoy a run or a walk or a hike. It's hard to always do this since I live in the blazing desert which has some unforgiving temperatures, but for about half the year, it is nice and I live right along a river wash where there's a great trail to run. It's great to find a park or a trail near you to get some fresh air. In San Diego, I love hiking at Torrey Pines since there is nothing quite like hiking a mountain next to the ocean. There are spectacular views, it's a great cardiovascular activity, and it's a good way to be social and catch up friends who join you on the hike, run, or walk. It doesn't cost anything to step outside your door and exercise so take advantage of what the great outdoors has to offer!
3) Podcasts: iTunes offers a pretty good selection of free Podcasts. These are both audio only and some are episodes of shows. Two of my favorite podcasts are financial ones: The Suze Orman Show and the Dave Ramsey radio show. I like to download Podcasts onto my phone and listen to them at the gym when I'm on the elliptical. Seth doesn't understand how I listen to them at the gym, but it gives me something to concentrate on while I'm working out so I enjoy it. The Suze Orman show is the actual show that you can download so I don't even watch it on TV anymore, I just download it from iTunes. Her show is not always applicable, but I do find some of her tips relevant and I like her attitude of People First, then Money, then Things. The Dave Ramsey show was introduced to me a friend and his big message is to live a debt free life and adjusting your life to achieve this goal.
4) Online Streaming & On-Demand: TV is one of the greatest inventions for entertainment. However, there are definitely pros and cons to having cable. One of the definite cons of having cable is the cost of it. However, Seth cannot survive without his ESPN SportsCenter and live sports so we have to have cable in our family. One of the things that we have not subscribed to though is DVR or TiVo. It does seem incredibly convenient to be able to forward past all commercials and record shows so that you don't have to be home at a certain time in order to watch a show, but since we have never had it- it's not something we miss. Instead, we take advantage of our On-Demand that comes with our digital cable package and we watch shows that are available for free on-demand. Not all shows are available, but ones that we enjoy like Top Chef, Wilfred, and Glee are on there. We have the option of pausing, forwarding, and rewinding these shows. I personally like to watch Food Network and they have shows on there that aren't even shown on TV so it's a nice bonus! If you don't have On-Demand or cable, I think it's really neat that you can stream pretty much all shows online now. It's nice that both network television like ABC and FOX as well as cable networks like MTV and Bravo have full episodes online.
5) Skype/Gmail Video Chat: I love keeping in touch with people. Last Christmas, I asked for an address book for Christmas so that I would write down people's addresses to send them mail. I am someone that is always up for reconnecting with people because I believe that everyone we meet affects us in one way or another and we are who we are because of the people that have touched our lives. With technology nowadays, it's so cool to be able to video chat online via Skype or Gmail video chat with people that we may not be able to otherwise see. I love chatting with my best friend, Briana, on video chat because it's good to be able to see her face and her expressions. :-D I have a friend who has Skype dinners with his friends and it's such a good way to keep in touch and be connected with people who are far away.
These are just some of my favorite free things. It's always nice to be able to do things that don't cost money and can still result in great memories. And I will end this blog with a quote from Socrates, "He is richest who is content with the least, for content is the wealth of nature."
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