Make peace with your debts.

These words can change your life: I will make peace with my debts.

From here on, accept what your debts are, and decide that beginning today, you will make peace with them. You will forgive yourself for whatever blame you have for carrying them around. You will forgive yourself for whatever reasons you have acquired the debt. You will forgive yourself for choices you have made that no longer serve you. 

Take action on these words. Today, take as much time as you need to write down each of your debts. Write down the total balance and the monthly payment amount. Create a list of all your debts and write down the total. Commit to today being the highest this balance will ever be again.

Here’s why this is so important: We often say things like: “I will be happy when…” “I will start taking better care of myself when…” “If only this were different, then I would be able to…” “I would do better if…” or, very pertinent here, “I will start working on my financial goals once my student loans are forgiven.”  It is dangerous to place our emotions on destinations. The destination can continually move and we are left never getting to where we wanted to be.

No one feels good about debt. When someone mentions they have a car payment, it’s followed up with, “I only have 2 years left.” When someone says they have student loans, you can hear the weight of the burden in their voice. When someone mentions they have credit card debt, they say it begrudgingly. If someone owes for taxes, you can sense the sadness and anger. 

Grant yourself peace today by deciding you want to eliminate your debts. For you. By doing so, you are in charge of your financial future. You get to decide the timeline. You get to control the experience you have with your debts. Only you. If debt isn’t working for you, decide you don’t want to have it anymore. Make today be the last day you take more.