I've been pushing for financial stability since Jan 2011, and I haven't lost focus not once in my goal to achieve it. I think the last 9 weeks have been the hardest in my life, because I was still in school and I had to drive a lot to complete my classes, and I'm glad that I got a over 95% ("A") in both classes. But the hardest part was the amount of weekly driving I had to do in order to get to class. During those 9 weeks, I swore to myself that I would never ever allow myself to make bad financial choices again, no matter how badly I want something. I made a personal choice deep within my very soul to stay the course.
And that course was to maintain some level of financial control in my life. When my job decided to move me to the facility in Walnut California (San Bernardino County) in March 2010, I was driving from work to home (45 minutes) and I was driving from work to school (60 minutes); and the costs had far exceeded $500 in gasoline/petrol a month. I realized soon after that I'd have to change my campus location and residence which were both in Los Angeles County. And I can say that right now, my new campus is 5 minutes from my current residence, and 20 minutes from where I work.
I also made the hard choice not to go visit Canada until some level of financial stability had been established, and decided to postpone any future wedding plans. I mean, don't get me wrong... I'd love to visit Canada and get married in a blink of an eye. But when you're in a Global Recession and your finances are constantly fluctuating, you can't simply make decisions that are emotionally based, you have to make hard & difficult choices. I haven't been to Canada since December 2010, and I do miss Lisa, her friends and family, but I have to be smart & reasonable if there is to be any kind of stable future for us.
Things between me and Lisa... have been... extremely difficult. We've had a lot of fights and disagreements over the past 4 months. And I know we've been on the brink of some serious problems a few times, but I made a decision a long time ago not to end the relationship just because things are hard or because we can't make the choices we want due to financial problems. And I also refuse to give up either, because I won't stop fighting for her, and I won't give up on her either. And, I know that once things are stable, we can proceed with the wedding arrangements, and then she'll be my wife and living with me in California.
Financial Stability is hard work, but it also requires discipline and focus. And I don't want to look back in 2011 and question the choices I made because I'll finally be in 2012 and nothing is working... I refuse to be that guy anymore that has all these wants and needs, and I'm unable to make them because I made irrational and emotional choices. I want to be the guy that makes the right choices for himself, his family, his fiancée & future wife, and his friends. I want to be that responsible guy that is stable and knows how to make sound decisions.