This article was published in the "Martinelli Newspapers" in the July 20, 2006 weekly issue of The Westchester Crusader, The Rye Chronicle, The Eastchester Record, The Pelham Sun, The Sound View News Home News & Times, The Mt. Vernon Independent, Harrison Independent
and North Castle News

Life and Money - "Full Day of Small Matters "

By Frank Sisco, CPA, PFS

(Word count = 958 plus 67 words for About the Author)

Some believe that one key path to a more successful life in terms of fulfillment, expression and even money is to be more focused and less scattered.   Yet, too narrow of a focus can miss the inspiration beaming at us from other people, perhaps from God, and embedded in the small events of our day.

Today was a full day for me.   As I sit here outside in the summer air near midnight, writing this essay on my Macintosh laptop on my patio table, with the full moon bright and peering through the tree branches on my left, with sounds of traffic from the Hutch on my right whooshing like waves on a shore, I'm reflective of today.   Nothing extraordinary happened, but in the little pieces forming the puzzle of the day, I do feel closer to myself, to people and even to God.

This morning, I woke somewhat disturbed from trying to prepare check disbursements the night before, made more complicated by forgetting to bring the ink jet printer home the week before.   As I thought further, the real upset was that I rarely seem to have money left over and in fact lately have had to dip into borrowings. Yet as I did my stretching exercises for my legs at the physical therapy place across the hall from my office where I'm trying to deal with my recently-herniated disks in my lower back, I found myself letting go of the stress, momentarily.   The Today Show, broadcast on the room's TV, had a segment on the underlying causes of excessive shopping and the ruinous effects on people at varied economic levels.   Although I'm past the addictive phases like excessive shopping and conspicuous spending, gambling, drinking, and smoking, I am still running too much.   Too many concurrent projects.   Too scattered in the name of being a Renaissance man. Although the physical therapy and chiropractic adjustments have greatly lessened my back problem, there's trouble bubbling underneath, perhaps the trouble that led to my back going out in the first place.

In my office, I had several phone conversations with clients, about reorganizing debt, new borrowings, business failures, investment purchases, insurance payments and several tax matters.   I felt needed and trusted by them.   Yet I still haven't resolved my mother's home insurance problem.   Shouldn't that have been a priority?   I handled various operational matters for my internet video marketing business including website design, new customers, edits of videos, uploading several videos of poets, cars and houses, search engine optimization, tracking hits and views, and so on.    Finished editing and uploading of the videos of readings by poets in 25 languages of Stanley Kunitz's signature poem, "The Layers."   Doubled in beauty for me since his passing.   Made arrangements for mini-documentaries of the lives of two older men, one 88 and very much alive, the other recently deceased at age 100.   Reminisced about older people I've known who have passed away in the last few years.   Remembered the high school class photo of client Sol and trying to pick him out of the crowd now 72 years later.   Listening to a friend on the phone muse about several celebrities he knew sixty and seventy years ago. But my overload clouded my attention.   When I spoke to my parents, wife and daughter while driving, I could tell I was not focused on what they were really saying.   Did I even say, "I love you" to them?

All day long, I bounced from one task to another. Mail. Phones. Files. Computer work.   Talking with visitors.   Arranged taking videos of an artist and his paintings tomorrow night.   During a call from a man I promised to copy photos for him of Rocky Marciano and President Kennedy, I was concerned I may have left the photos somewhere I did not remember.   I rushed to my car in the parking lot and looked to no avail.   Then, scoured my large briefcase again and luckily the photos were there in the inside pocket of it.   Why was I forgetful or misplacing items?   The day before I spent an hour searching for my digital video camera, only to find it on my car's back seat that I had just surveyed three times. I promised myself to minimize my projects in process.   What about the videos of my brother I've yet to edit?

Before going to the Cornerstone Men's group meeting in the cafeteria of my parish's church at night, I picked up the DVD of a video I took of a concert honoring a Cornerstone member, Edgar Caruana, who passed away last year. At the meeting, I showed the DVD to Edgar's son, Roger, and to the event's organizer, Tom Sullivan, We discussed plans for making a final DVD for mass distribution with the proceeds going to a certain charity.   They were pleased but I felt I was too rushed as I packed up and left to do my final errand.

I scurried to CVS/Pharmacy to copy the Marciano photos, only to find one store closed, a second store with a machine shut off early for the evening, and a third store with a malfunctioning unit.   I resolved that tomorrow at 7am I'd go to the second or third store, hoping the machine would be working.

Reflecting on the day, the money side came up short, as I made only a few hundred dollars today taking care of client matters. But, oh, the richness tucked inside each of the small little encounters that were showing me how I was relating to life and to people, in some cases okay, but in many cases, I need to do better.   Much better.   For one, I need to slow the down the pace, and sit more outside, under the moon, and reflect.

About the author.

Frank Sisco is a CPA and Personal Financial Specialist, and author of many articles about personal finance and issues of life and money.   His firm, Financial Management Corporation, is located in Harrison, NY.  Frank resides with his wife and daughter in New Rochelle, NY.  He can be reached at 914.381.3737 or by email at ideasmoney@aol.com.   Visit his website at www.LifeAndMoney.com, which contains this and prior articles.