It's a Journey

The other day I had someone make a remark to me about simple living that was not made out of knowledge but out of ignorance–I think many people misunderstand what it really means to live simple–here is my meager attempt to explain it from my point of view–
Simple living is not living a life free of troubles or stress–Those that subscribe to this lifestyle still suffer stress, trials and tribulations just like others–we still have ‘drama moments” in our lives–this is part of being human and living in a fallen world–but its all about how you handle it–You must let go and let God–

Simple living means finding enjoyment in the surroundings we have and getting back to the basics–For us our simple life is getting back to as many basics as we can–cooking from scratch, growing our own food–slowing down and taking time to ‘just be’–We love sitting outside on a warm spring day watching the chickens peck the ground–we enjoy sitting out of an evening and watching goats play–We love walking on our land through the woods and taking in all the beauty that country living can bring–

Simple living is understanding that the land was given to us on loan and we are to be good stewards of it–God gave us this land to take care of for him–granted there are times when we must remove trees or soil in order to live, but if its not necessary it should not be done–Critters give and take when it comes to the land and we should too–It saddens me to see someome take 100 acres and totally clear it for their own selfish reasons–now it you are farming it fine, but just because youc an–that is very sad–trees give to us, what would happen if they were all gone?–We must carefully consider what we do to this land can have lasting impacts–

Simple living is letting go of consumerism–Consummerism is everywhere we turn–we are constantly bombarded with commericial, billboards and radio ads telling us we ‘must have’ the latest and greatest in order to be ‘important’–look at how many folks fall for this–this is not to say you should not have things, but that you should weigh what is a must have and what is a want–granted some wants can give back to you–like I want more chickens they will benefit me in the long run–they are not a must have–a must have would be just enough chickens to feed my family which I have–the ‘want more’ I can sell to bring in money–so some wants are not bad if its not for selfish reasons–the benefits need to be weighed–

Simple living is letting go of baggage–so many of us carry around pounds and pounds of baggage that weigh us down and keep us from being all we can be–in order to be whole we need to let go of those things that hold us back and keep us down–We must learn to forgive and realize none are perfect and when we hold grudges or are hateful we are only destroying ourselves and that is far from simple living–

Simple living is not easy ,its a trade off–Living a life of true simplicty is anything by easy–it’s hard work, it’s long hours, it’s tiring–but it is very rewarding–it is much simpler to run out and buy a cake mix or a pound of ground beef from the grocery than it is to bake from scratch or feed and water that cow everyday–but is a trade off–do you wanna eat all that processed food or eat what you raised or baked and you know what went into it–again gotta weigh the options–

Simple living cannot be described in a few sentences–it is truly a lifestyle and that lifestyle is different for everyone based on their needs, wants, desires and goals–But one thing I think can be agreed on is that simple living is understanding that less is truly more, and there is so much more to living than just working to have material possessions–it is a life based on understanding what is most important to you, your family and your goals and working toward that one step at a time and all the while taking time to smell the roses along the way!–Simple living is a journey, not a destination.
::Until Next Time::
The Deliberate Homesteader