I've Lost My Independence

Getting back to the original intention of this blog - my musings. A little about life, and the ups and downs.

As you may already know, the past two+ years of our life has involved a lot of reflection and changes. This was all precipitated by my medical diagnosis of a very rare disorder called Ataxia for which there is no treatment or cure.

The diagnosis did not come as a shock; in fact, I think I knew for many years that it was coming of age. My father had been diagnosed many many years before and we (his children) were told that there was a 50/50 chance we would develop it too. For some reason, I always knew that I would be one.

So far, I am the only one of seven children to have developed the disorder. Hopefully, I will remain the only one.

Although I had underlying symptoms for many years before the actual diagnosis, we think the prominent symptoms (the ones that have resulted in my "recognized" disabilities) were triggered by a particularly extremely stressful situation in our life.

When I was officially diagnosed in January 2012, after careful consideration we made the decision to make some big changes to our life and lifestyle. It took the better part of a year to make the changes come to fruition, but by September of that year we were on our way. Without going into detail as that is a long story in itself, our lives are so much richer (in many ways) and healthier. We cut living expenses and have a little more breathing room. We have no regrets.

The worry...

I am no longer able to work, I can't drive anymore, I can't go anywhere alone - but I have a wonderful husband who carries those loads these days without any complaints.

Most of all, I can't contribute to our monthly income like I used to.

Although my life is good despite the disability and the knowledge that the physical things will only get worse - not better, I continue to keep a positive attitude. There is no point in dwelling on the negative as that would only make life miserable for myself and my family. I live day-to-day, making the best I can of each.

However, because I can't work, money is tight. We've had to adjust our living and living expenses considerably. I do get a small pension from my years working for the government but we also know that that won't help a whole lot when my husband is no longer working for whatever reason.

When it is time for CPP, that will replace my pension, not add to it so we will be no further ahead.  At that point, we will have to live on an extremely small amount of monthly income.

My one big worry is for our future. We lost a lot during the recession - mostly our savings (the money that we had set aside for our retirement has dwindled) for various reasons.

Which brings me to a disappointment -

Our Government doesn't help much. It is extremely confusing to navigate through their websites (and I am computer literate) for the purpose of finding information on disability, our rights, any benefits that would help, etc... After many attempts, I have found very little information. Supposedly, I qualify for the Disability Tax Credit but no one seems to know or understand exactly what that gives to the disabled, what it is for, how it helps to make life easier, or anything. Believe me, I've asked many people and no one really knows. It certainly hasn't done anything for me with regards to taxes...

All I want is to continue to live my life without stress and worry over finances, to feel like I'm still contributing to our income so that the burden isn't solely on my husband, to be able to afford to get help and aid when I will be in need, and to know that we will be okay.

At this point, I don't feel confident that we will be okay in our future.

Is Affordable Housing Possible?

Tiny Affordable and Small Houses

A few years ago I would have said "no way" - it is virtually impossible to find Affordable Housing, but today I know better.

It is not common knowledge (although it is becoming more of a good trend) that you can build or buy and live in a tiny (or small) house. For many years it was considered the norm to have a big house - it was a status symbol, an acknowledgment of your succcess. The only problem with a big house is that it uses up all your resources leaving you with very little, if anything, to actually live your life.

Big House Pros and Cons

Typically, a big house is a display of wealth and status - that is all. Who really needs all that space? In most families, many of the rooms in a large house are not even used.

A big house usually requires more than one income to afford - both parties need to work full-time. In many cases, even that is not enough to keep up with all the expenses which is part of the reason why so many Americans found themselves in financial difficulties in recent years.

Cleaning, maintaining, and the upkeep of a house that is more than what you really need is simply a suck of your spare time. It takes hours to clean and tidy a house that is big. There is regular maintenance and upkeep chores that need to be done which uses up even more of the time that you could be using to do something that you really love and enjoy.

The cost to heat and cool a large place adds up. Not only does that unnecessarily use up precious resources, but it is money that you will never see again.

Tiny or Small House Pros and Cons

Many people have proven that living in a small or tiny house can be just as comfortable and luxurious as a big house - just on a smaller scale. What I've noticed is that people who have downsized (usually considerably) are living happier and healthier lives because along with downsizing their living arrangements, they find that the stress load, financial worries, and strain of living has been eased.

When you have a small house, you will have the time and the money to enjoy your life rather than being a slave to it.

A tiny house does not cost much to live in. It doesn't cost much to heat or cool a little space.

It takes a lot less time to clean, maintain, and upkeep a small home. Generally, you could be done in one-hour or so.

Which leaves you lots of time to do the things that you really love to do, time to do what you enjoy.

Your expenses will be cut down considerably which will leave you with extra cash to put away for a rainy day, to pay off debt, save for education and/or  vacations, and your retirement years.

This is what living your life is all about. All this is what makes living in a small house affordable. This is what living in affordable housing does to improve your life.

Big Changes - Okanagan SEO

Life Changes 

A Little History

Instead of writing about what I do these days, I thought I'd give a little history of how I got here. The long journey of getting to the point in life where my work and my job (SEO) is actually something that I love to do.

During the past four years, we have had to make changes to our life due to one job ending and finding another in a different city. There were many challenges that came with that move; not all favorable.

Two years ago, after careful consideration we made a decision to make considerable changes to our life and lifestyle, Although it was nerve-wracking to make the changes it turned out to be one of the best decisions we've ever made.

These days, we both work from home doing work that we love.

 A New Business Is Born

I have always loved computers and internet work. I dabbled in all kinds of things online for many years while working full-time for the Government (in IT) so it was no surprise that when I left my full-time job that I gravitated back to what I've always loved to do - internet marketing and SEO.

These days I'm considered to be an SEO expert. I have a number of websites with keywords that are in the #1 place in search engines, and many others that are somewhere within the first page of search engines. I belong to an elite group of SEOers where we discuss the newest strategies for ranking and keeping the rankings we work so hard to get. 

I recently opened my doors with my own search engine optimization business to help other businesses to reach top rankings in search engines. The business name is Okanagan SEO - named after the place that we love the most in Canada. Despite the name of the company, we are able to help businesses throughout North America. 

As a search engine optimization expert, I apply the same principles and strategies to your business when as I do to my own. The first step is analyzing your wants and needs, and then planning an SEO strategy that is specific to your needs.

If you would like to learn more about what SEO is and what we do, please visit Okanagan SEO or SEO services.