Life is better when you make the rules

The other day I was looking at my credit card debt and realized I had four accounts — not three as I had thought — with big balances.

I did manage to pay one off toward the end of last year and was figuring on doing the same with another this year, until I saw where I'd somehow ignored one in my calculations.

That kind of discouraged me for a few days, as it made it seem impossible to ever really dig out from under the mountain of debt.

But then I had an epiphany: I thought to myself, OK, maybe you'll never ever get them all paid off, but hey, consider that you pay your monthly mortgage nut without giving it a second thought, as if it were rent.

So from that moment on I decided to just view my credit card debt as another mortgage, there since forever and perhaps forevermore.

And the lightness of being I like so much returned and hasn't left since.

It's kind of like the day I decided dust was a good thing, à la Mario Buatta, and suddenly my housekeeping was perfect, with very little work required to keep it that way.

There's a lot to be said for moving the goal posts in certain circumstances.

Try it, you'll like it.

And if you're not satisfied with the results, I'll cheerfully refund every penny you paid for my advice.