“You can talk yourself into, or out-of anything.” That’s what my friend Sean says quite frequently in his yoga classes. And, in the context of a yoga class, his words have always made sense to me. (No, I don’t really need to do a fifth wheel pose. Four are definitely enough… I’ll just lie here awhile longer and relax. That’s much better for me anyway, right?) But, I’ve never really considered the statement to have much relevance in my day-to-day existence… until this venture, that is.

I recently decided that I was in desperate need of an MP3 voice recorder to create podcasts of my yoga classes to share with my students. And, because this was technically a “business” expense I was poised to purchase the recorder without hesitation or thought of this project. That is, until I shared my plans with Brian whom, so supportively over a dinner I lovingly prepared, took me on an all-expense-paid guilt trip that even my devout Catholic mother would be envious of:

“Sure, it’s fine to buy a NEW MP3 player with your business account if you’re willing to compromise the goals of the entire project without even making it to the one-month mark. By the way, these potatoes are fantastic!”

The dinner didn’t end well.

But, as I was washing the dishes I realized he had a point. If I was really going to do this, I couldn’t talk myself into purchases that directly conflict with my aspirations for this year. So, I decided to try and find the MP3 player used. And, to my delight and surprise, I found the exact product I was looking for at a 1/3 of the cost from the Amazon.com Warehouse (www.warehousedeals.com/).

My Sansa MP3 recorder arrived in perfect working order, but more importantly I didn’t have to compromise my ideals to get it.

Oh, and for you sticklers out there, I stayed in complete compliance with the “rules” by placing my old iPod in a box heading to Goodwill.

~Stacey