Letter from the editor- Silvia Ichar

Summer, marvelous season, great opportunity to enjoy ourselves in the open air, share unforgetable moments with family and friends on the beach, in parks or to take a trip, taking advantage of our children?s time off.

Summer also invites us to totally renew ourselves and our wardrobes. It?s a time to inspect sensibly which are the clothes we wear and which only take up valuable space in our already crowded closet. Same with shoes and other accessories which we have a mania of accumulating. We will free up space and also do a good deed donating them to so many organizations which assist those who need that which is burdensome to us, and we don?t even notice we have.

We should do the same with our personal? and work life, get rid of what we don?t need and give more attention to what brings us well being and better income. So while we are resting on the beach, we should evaluate what we are doing, what we can conquer, what we must learn and the possible classes we could take to improve our present and be able to save money intelligently, as the brilliant Julie Stav (www.juliestav.com) teaches us. An income that will serve us well when we need it to cover some emergency or to buy ourselves that new car we need so badly to travel safely to our job. We find economic and mental freedom by saving.

Summer is marvelous time to share with our children and grandchildren who we so often don?t have time to talk with well, tell them our family stories, or simply listen to them attentively and let them know we are interested in what they have to say to us. Let?s make an effort, until it becomes a habit, to be more positive, to have a better attitude confronting the challenges life brings us daily. That will make us happier and we will empower others with this good energy.

Also let?s take the time to make young girls aware of the value of life, that to have children is not their sole mission. That they must be intelligent, develop their brain by studying. Carla Valenzuela (pp.22-24) has dedicated her life to helping many young girls who have children when they themselves are still children. Why? They need to be better informed and take care of themselves always; one minute of stupidity can truncate their lives which could have been very successful, with all the available resources in this country that they can?t use due to enormous obligations without a reliable partner. An education is the only vehicle for mental and economic liberation. After achieving a degree, then choose that special person to be your partner and form a lovely family, planned and happy- (read Dr. Gedissman p.38, about fathers and their importance in a family.) Life is beautiful and it depends on us what we get out of it. Cause and effect. Our results are according to our actions throughout our life in most cases.

We still see no economic miracles but we are feeling a comforting improvement. Some of us mired in debt, who made a mistake by trusting a professional who didn?t come through as promised, meet the attorney Juan Jose Gonzalez (p. 7). I?ve been able to evaluate his effectiveness and professionalism and I recommend you make an appointment with him, it?s free, so you may present him with your preoccupations and listen to his legal recommendation thus liberating yourself of your problems and benefitting. Act now! Don?t wait until you?re drowning in debt because acting out of desperation will not lead you to make the best decisions because of the lack of balance caused by financial worries.

And?relax, know that for every problem there are options, choose the best, take a walk, enjoy the beauty that surrounds you, take time for yourself, pamper yourself, and live fully this season before you that is so special.

*Interpretation by peggyedwards