Avoid toxic debt, achieve spiritual freedom this year

 Predicting the future is usually the province of soothsayers, n’angas and traditional healers, but there are several schools of thought that prophesy a cataclysmic world event, scheduled to occur in 2012. These events include an alien invasion in December 2012, the spiritual transformation of all inhabitants, collision with a black hole, and a possible mass extinction (said to be a regular occurrence every 26 million years).
If you’re unconvinced that the end is nigh, you will probably have been pondering some New Year resolutions for 2012. Following the credit crunch that hit most of the country’s banks over the Christmas period, many Zimbos will have been unable to indulge in their favourite festive foodstuffs and treats.
On the positive side, it will not now be necessary to shed any recently acquired flab or to renew your gym membership.
Shedding flab often requires strict dieting, which can be painful, and lead to feelings of guilt when the regimen is not closely followed. Moreover, lost kgs are often rapidly regained when the diet is abandoned.
Resolve instead to reduce your intake of sugar, oil and red meat, and experiment with recipes that make vegetables, grains and pulses taste delicious.
If you’ve taken a cut in salary, or lost one of your part time jobs, you may have to think twice about committing to paying expensive fees at your local gym.
Instead, go for brisk early morning walks, or search on the Internet for a series of stretches and exercises to do at home. In addition, learning meditation skills and adopting good sleep patterns can contribute more to your health and happiness than dieting or pumping iron.
Zimbos are used to running on empty, but 2012 offers more economic challenges than ever, and topping our New Year resolutions should be the decision to get our money matters in order. Paying off any debt should be a priority.
This is something you cannot brush under the carpet, as it mounts up and rapidly becomes toxic.
If you’ve borrowed money from friends or are behind in paying your rent, make every effort to settle these debts, as friendships and relationships can also become toxic and affect your well being and everyone around you.
If you find surviving between pay cheques difficult, and are understandably reluctant to turn to a life of crime, it might be worth enlisting the help of a money coach, or using a money management programme. Intuit’s Quicken offers help in portfolio management, tracking expenses, cutting costs, and setting home budget goals, all of which will help you attain financial security.
Having freed yourself from the trammels of finance, your might look to achieving a measure of spiritual freedom. The world’s first self-help book, The Spiritual Exercises of St Ignatius Loyola, was written in the 16th century. These meditations, prayers and mental exercises could assist in achieving a sense of equilibrium in the uncertainties of our existence. The exercises can be performed at home over a period of months, or at workshops in Liverpool, England, between January and February 2012. Travellers to New York can attend a weeklong workshop in August.
The till operator at my local supermarket is convinced that 2012 will be a good year for all of us. “In a country so rich in diamonds,” he insists, “we just need to pray to God to distribute the wealth fairly!” I think he might be on the right track.