Retirement, Simple Living, and Me
I came across an article about "simple living" in 1993. I became fascinated by this and began looking for more articles, books, etc on the subject and my journey began.
I started reading articles about "living on less" and "working less and living more" and thought, that's what I want! It seemed easy enough. Apparently, you just lived on half of your income, invested the rest, and pretty soon you wouldn't have to work anymore and then the "simple living" would begin.
Believe it or not, it took about 5 years for me to figure out that to live on half of your income, you had to have an income that amounted to more than "squat". So I thought that this would never work and began to actually scoff at and doubt articles that claimed " I feed my family on one bean a month" and "we have no jobs and live like royalty"."
Then I discovered The Simle Living Guide by Janet Luhrs. I checked it out from the library every chance I got and read and re-read it. I found a used copy at a bookstore ( I don't think Amazon had been invented yet) and latched on to it. It was a dream come true. Now I could read it over and over and get serious about reducing stress and finding more joy in my life!
In the introduction , the author admits her dream was for her family to go off to live in a log cabin in the woods, simply ever after and everything would take care of itself from there on. She arrived at this conclusion after reading Henry David Thoreau's quote about "going into the woods to live deliberately". Then one day she came to the conclusion that the important word in the quote was the word "deliberate" and came up with the definition of "simple living". She states, "simple living is about living deliberately. That's all. You choose your existence rather than sailing through life on automatic pilot". I finally got it!
You don't have to live in the woods and feed your family on one bean a month. You can have a job, a house, a car, and even go on vacations. You can be any age, any gender, and have any income. It's a matter of determining what your priorities in life are, who and what is important to you, and make decisions according to those beliefs. I am now a firm believer in living simply, taking time for family, living with fewer material possessions, and sitting quietly with my hound dogs while counting my blessings.
If you are not already living simply, why not?
That's it for now.
Check back again!
Information from The Simple Living Guide, Janet Luhrs., 1997.
I started reading articles about "living on less" and "working less and living more" and thought, that's what I want! It seemed easy enough. Apparently, you just lived on half of your income, invested the rest, and pretty soon you wouldn't have to work anymore and then the "simple living" would begin.
Believe it or not, it took about 5 years for me to figure out that to live on half of your income, you had to have an income that amounted to more than "squat". So I thought that this would never work and began to actually scoff at and doubt articles that claimed " I feed my family on one bean a month" and "we have no jobs and live like royalty"."
Then I discovered The Simle Living Guide by Janet Luhrs. I checked it out from the library every chance I got and read and re-read it. I found a used copy at a bookstore ( I don't think Amazon had been invented yet) and latched on to it. It was a dream come true. Now I could read it over and over and get serious about reducing stress and finding more joy in my life!
In the introduction , the author admits her dream was for her family to go off to live in a log cabin in the woods, simply ever after and everything would take care of itself from there on. She arrived at this conclusion after reading Henry David Thoreau's quote about "going into the woods to live deliberately". Then one day she came to the conclusion that the important word in the quote was the word "deliberate" and came up with the definition of "simple living". She states, "simple living is about living deliberately. That's all. You choose your existence rather than sailing through life on automatic pilot". I finally got it!
You don't have to live in the woods and feed your family on one bean a month. You can have a job, a house, a car, and even go on vacations. You can be any age, any gender, and have any income. It's a matter of determining what your priorities in life are, who and what is important to you, and make decisions according to those beliefs. I am now a firm believer in living simply, taking time for family, living with fewer material possessions, and sitting quietly with my hound dogs while counting my blessings.
"What is at the center of your life? Carefully examine where you spend your attention, your time. Look at your appointment book, your daily schedule....This is what receives your care and attention---and by definition, your love."Wayne Muller, "How Shall We Love "
If you are not already living simply, why not?
That's it for now.
Check back again!
Information from The Simple Living Guide, Janet Luhrs., 1997.
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