As I was thinking this weekend about what to say about the Balanced Life I started thinking about what I most need to hear in my life. I came to the conclusion that I want to SEE results. This has to do with me and with those around me. I’m tired of hoping things will change or wishing for something different.

I’m tired of talk.

I’m tired of telling myself that things will be better when XYZ happens…because it rarely is.

I’m tired of false hopes and empty promises made by others. Most of the times these people are completely sincere and have my best interest at heart, but they are still little more than “maybes”.

So what can we do? Am I saying to to give up?

No. I’m saying we need to stop being the victims of our circumstances. I was reading a novel this afternoon and the main character was trapped by the bad guy. She was bound and locked in a wine cellar in a heavily guarded house. She sat and cried. Then she remembered that she was tired of being a victim. She was tired of others dictating her fate TO her.

Have you reached that point yet?

Part of living the balanced life is realizing after a season that you are DONE with hoping. You are ready to act.

So what is one thing you are doing to change your circumstances? One thing I did was decided to change the format of this blog. I wanted to provide individuals with some of the best information on money saving tips and tricks. I will continue to do that. But I’ve also decided that I’m going to give people what I most long for in my dark moments-straight forward talk laced with hope.

There is always hope. Hope is flying past us every day. There are opportunities to spend less or earn more. There are opportunities to put your family first or take a chance on your career. We swing back and forth continually. When we swing too far out of balance-either way-we have problems.

So I’m challenging you to see one or two areas of your life that you KNOW are not in balance right now. What are they? How can you bring them in balance. It can be a relationship with your kids or a past due payment to a creditor. Every problem has a symptom and a solution.

And, as promised, I’m going to keep sharing insights in this new tone. I hope you’ll forward my blog links. Post me on twitter, comment on me on your blogs [when you do link back to me and tell me you did it in comments. I'll be happy to tell others about the post.]

But let’s quit talking about the problem. Let’ s work together on a solution.

Tiffany Colter is a passionate freelance writer whose credits include Today’s Christian, Charisma Magazine, Toledo Business Journal, and the Afictionado E-zine. Tenacious in her approach not only to create a great story, but also to mentor other writers, Tiffany can always be found in the presence of a book or laptop. A former world traveler who is fluent in three languages, she strives to reach those who are hurting around her.     She enjoys helping others build a strong business and writes a daily marketing blog for writers called the Writing Career Coach and a common-sense money management site, TheBalancedLife.com. Tiffany lives outside Toledo, OH with her husband, a recent cancer survivor, and their four girls.