#1576, Thursday, January 7: Practicing gratitude.

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Post 1576, Day 7 of 2016
- 1,833 days since I started this blog -

Daily Comment

In the waning days of my employment, some things have cropped up that are... challenges.

One of them is how my investments are doing in the past year. Long and short of it: Not good. The bad market, especially in the dividend-issuing stocks that I am invested in, has seen a large loss this year, such that, despite my continual investment throughout the year, my portfolio reached a high point last April, and is worth less now than it was at the beginning of the year.

In fact, today I suffered the biggest one-day loss ever, and I've gone from double-digit portfolio gains to a small overall loss.

No concerns. First, I'm in it for the long run, meaning I don't anticipate having to liquidate any time in the near future, so I can ride out a bad market; second, I am investing for income, and dividends are producing an 8+% return on my investment.

Nothing but gratitude to have anything at all to go towards my retirement.

Another thing is that, every time I think the paperwork on my transition from employee to retiree is finished, new forms appear for me. Today, that meant dealing with the forms to move my tax-deferred account from the VA to my Traditional IRA. I'm glad these showed up when they did, because they are going to take weeks to process, and, it turns out, can't be submitted prior to retirement. There are also sections that need to be completed, signed, and returned to me by officers at my Traditional IRA.

Nobody likes bureaucracy.

But I am so grateful to have had a job so good at supplying my needs that I was able to bank an excess. This job completely reversed my fortunes, helping me move from underwater to water-skiing, financially.

Which means it also helped with everything else in my life.

As in all things, getting this job was completely unforeseen by me right up to the time I got it. There was no plan.

Grateful? I'm even grateful for losses and irritants, it seems.

I get better at gratitude all the time. It just takes practice.

Food and Diet Section


Too few data points to chart. Watch this space for a new chart soon.

Today's Weight:                   204.2 lbs.

Previous Weight (1/6):            203.8 lbs.

Net Loss/Gain:                   +  0.4 lbs.

Diet Comment

This is a margin-of-error change that surprised me. I felt lighter than yesterday. Oh, well. It's acceptable, and I'm not going to think about it (until tomorrow).

Food Log

Breakfast
A Quest bar.

Lunch
Green protein shake with almond-coconut milk, kefir, extra-large organic egg, chia gel, kale, celery, whey powder (36g protein), hemp seeds, hemp protein (7g protein), raw organic cacao powder, moringa leaf powder, cinnamon, and stevia-inulin blend.

Dinner
Salmon salad with wild-caught salmon, venison pepperoni, spinach, kale, chard and cole slaw mix. And a Quest bar for dessert.

Snack
Sriracha chicken breast with celery and home-made mayonnaise.

Liquid Intake
   Espressos: 2  Coffee:  24 oz.;  Water: 84+ oz. Also, a very healthy pour of Jameson's Black Cask and a Fireball, which is some kind of vodka and cinnamon drink.

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