Simplicity

Day 42. Simplicity.

Let's face it, we like nice things. We like our fancy electronics, our shiny cars, our big houses full of stuff. The people on the Hoarders television shows, they like stuff a little more than the rest of us, but we share something with them. We're both trying to fill our lives with things, instead of filling things with life.

It doesn't take a hi-def tv with a screen so large that  people are life-sized to make us happy. We don't need a 3000 square foot house for two, with five bedrooms and four baths. An SUV the size of a small RV doesn't make us any happier.

The most precious things in our lives are often the simplest. A campfire, surrounded by friends. A nap on the couch. A cat purring in your lap. Walking in the park with the one you love. A cheap bottle of wine, drunk from paper cups.  Reading a good book for the tenth time.

I learned as a kid that having "stuff" didn't mean you were happy. I had all the cool stuff, all the newest toys, all the cool clothes, all the gadgets. None of which made a bit of difference, when I had forces working against me to tear me down. I battled to convince myself that in spite of being told I wasn't smart enough, pretty enough, anything enough, I really was worth something. I knew my friends liked me for me, not because I had all the new albums, or I could pay for everyone in our group to go to movies on Saturdays.

I've learned to live without a lot of things over my adult life. Always had a decent job, but never comfortable enough to feel secure. We had lots of love, and the simple things made us happy. We'd go to Momma Doris's house on the lake on weekends, and split the cost of food with everyone else there. We'd take lawn chairs to the airport I worked at and watch two of our pilot friends practice aerobatics. We'd spend $100 for a weekend camping at the racetrack in Charlotte and seeing two Nascar races. We'd invite the kids' friends over and have a bonfire.

I'm at a point in life where I have a bit more freedom, both personal and financial. So what do I do with my money and time? I bought a greenhouse. Because growing my own plants (vegetable and flowering) makes me happy. I bought paint and tile and carpets. Because my little place in the woods needs some sprucing up. It's not big, certainly not fancy, but it's mine and I love it. New caramel colored cabinet doors with beige cabinets, new tiles for the floor, new curtains and carpets in the bedroom. Nothing fancy, doing the work myself, but again, it makes me happy. The simple things.

Lesson Forty Two: Do you need material things to make you feel your life is better? Can you do without the latest things, and still have a smile? Think about the things you miss when you're caught up competing with the Jones', and see if you can let some things go that are keeping you from enjoying the people in your life, instead of the things.


688 to go...