A Balance, Redefined

Make sure to think of the insurance debacle when you're doing your next hard workout. There's nothing like being mad to keep the legs going.

At least the knee's doing better :)

Stuff like this really ticks me off. Its a totally irrational way of dealing with things. Hopefully you'll get it all worked out.

Thank you. Every word of encouragement helps. The good thing about writing it down/talking about it is that I put it into perspective and realize it could be a lot worse and then try not to let it get to me anymore. The biggest thing is the amount of time I've wasted over this. I've easily spent 20+ hours on the phone and numerous others just stressing about it. In the end though I have to take yoga or something (or go for more runs) and learn to just RELAX! But when I first saw the line on my credit report about a debt collector that I didn't even know I had a bill for my heart started racing I was so angry that they could get away with something like this. I've never missed a payment for anything in 30 years (12 of paying my own bills), and the whole thing came as a shock to my system.

Hang in there AW. Something good will happen to you and your family now.

Clyde-Acutally we've had a pretty good week this aside. Kaitlyn started school and seems to enjoy it. I just have to learn to focus on the positive and find a way to write about that more instead of just pointing out the bad things.

Eric-Your comment got me thinking about irrational ways of dealing with things. I'm actually reading an Ayn Rand book right now and though I don't agree with all of her philosophy if there were more rational people the world could be so much better...

Frustrating. Frustrating. Sorry it's happening to you.

Which Ayn Rand? Ayn Rand rocks, though her objectivism is too far on one extreme.

Michelle, Until grad school I had no idea who Ayn Rand was. However, one of my classmates and good friends at the time was truly obsessed with her. She had me read The Fountainhead and at least once a week we would have an in depth discussion about it (my friend had read all of Ayn's books literally a dozen times each). Right now I'm reading Atlas Shrugged, Dagny just "landed her plain in the mountains"... I find Ayn's way of explaining human motive very interesting. Though most people think of being selfish as a negative I find that her general explanation of how to practice it is actually giving to the world as a whole. Not that I am well read, but of what I have read these two books in particular have really changed my view of those around me. Do you have a favorite of hers?

Those two are the only two I have read. Ayn Rand has actually been kind of "bad" for me because I have been an objectivist at heart since a child without really knowing it. So reading her just confirms to me that my selfishness is a virtue, when in fact it isn't always. I think the truth lies somewhere in between - that every personality trait, whether it is selfishness or sensitivity, has its positive and negative side.

Michelle, I completely agree. That is why I continue to struggle to find a balance in whatever it is I do in life. So here is the bigger question, which of the two did you like better?

That really unprofessional how they treated you and not giving you the information you needed to resolve this. Absolutely wrong to send this to a collection agency.

Our system process just doesn't have the word quick anyway in any legal/insurance matters.

Good run Adam, and I'm glad the knee is better so that you can cruise in STG.

I read Atlas Shrugged last year, and the Fountainhead about 8 years ago, so to fairly answer that question I'd have to read the Fountainhead again. That being said, my answer right now would be Atlas Shrugged, and you'll have to wait until you finish the book for me to fully discuss why :)