Over time many people come into and out of our lives.

I think it is so important that we use wisdom and allow people we meet to move slowly through the following levels of relationship, solidifying the relationship as we go

Almost no one has absolute control of most of their time. Right from birth through to our school years and then on to employment where and how we spend our time is totally in the control of others – our parents, carers, teachers and employers.

It is no longer viable to accept that life must follow the pattern of full time student followed by full time work to 65 years of age and then followed by full time retirement. 65 is simply the wrong number.

Unfortunately a large number of people move through life from being single, to being a couple, to the beautiful chaos of having a young family, to the weight of bringing up teenagers, to being empty nesters, only to then look at each other and say, “Who are you? Why is there no money in our bank? And where did all these kilos come from?”

Here we are… a couple of weeks into the new financial year. You are sitting in your office or at home or in a cafe reading this. You may be considering world affairs, or overseas and local economic conditions.

How do you make decisions amongst the apparent chaos?