You're Killing Me, Dude!

What does being healthy have to do with a simple life? Well, plenty actually. I am convinced that there is a whole army of folks in our world today who are trying to convince us that THEY know the best way for us to live on this earth. For the most part, these dire warnings and predictions are just plain bunk and bull-crap. These negative screaming alarmist would have us eliminate all the progress that can make our lives easier and more enjoyable.

Do these brilliant and all knowing people arrive at their lectures and public wisdom sharing events on a bicycle? Are they naked or wearing clothing made from their own self woven fabrics? Are they toting home grown carrots (heaven forbid they would be in a plastic sandwich bag!), that they did not wash in the nasty polluted water? Hell NO. They are driving big cars, flying on airplanes and partaking of the risky indulgences of our world, just as you are.

Get a grip, folks.  The greatest risk in our world today is excess.  It has always been the way with humans. If you present an endless supply of something pleasurable and enjoyable to humans, they're not so good at taking just a bit. Do you really think that anyone ever died because they smoked one cigarette a day? Do alcoholics get liver disease because they had  one cocktail every evening?  A little moderation goes a very long way towards reducing risks in our lives.

Fifty years ago, after I had my first child, I was twenty pounds heavier than I had ever been. I was young and had been a scrawny little teen. (What I wouldn't give to weigh that now!) I panicked and started a life long battle with my weight. One of the things I did was started using saccharin---remember those little white medicine looking pills?---in my morning coffee and my iced tea. So far, that poison hasn't killed me. Maybe, any day now. Or maybe the diet drinks and other artificial sweeteners, whiskey, red meat, carbs, veggies with pesticides, polluted water or air. Yesterday, I read that French fries are pure poison and Cool Whip is deadly.

Truth is, as much as we hate it, we are ALL going to die. Something is eventually going to kill us. It won't matter how lovely you look in your coffin. It won't matter that the temperature yesterday was one million of an inth warmer than it was in 1918 or if a meteorite incinerates the earth that day. You are going to be dead and in whatever destination you choose to believe in. What does matter is how much you lived when you had the privilege of being here.

While I still have the opportunity, I will do my best to respect my body and the earth and do a minimum of harm. I choose to eat and drink a little of what I enjoy, today. I choose to take a little walk, appreciate that the wind is not howling across the Front Range and the temp is pleasant. If you choose to spend your day avoiding, throwing out and adding to your list of forbidden indulgences, that is most certainly your choice. I choose to LIVE.

Organize Your Thoughts

Whether you are contemplating downsizing your life or making dozens of other life decisions, you need to organize those thoughts that buzz around in your head.  

***You can begin by thinking of what you REALLY want, what you would like to happen, the answer you wish you could hear. Yes, you are allowed to consider how you feel about a decision. You can have your dream.

***Once you know what you want, get real and honest with yourself.  Is there a realistic starting point to accomplish what I want?  Is it possible to do what I want? Most importantly---what are the consequences of this change, both good and bad?

***Make a plan

Dreams are supposed to be lofty and big. It's okay to form that perfect scenario in your mind. Oh, I would love to live in that teeny portable house, be able to move around. Oh, I would love to live on a houseboat. Oh, wouldn't it be grand in the mountains? on the lake or river? I would love to have no yard work, no maintenance, no mortgage. Just be sure that it's your dream, not one that you saw on TV or heard from someone else and it sounded good.

When you get honest with yourself, start narrowing down your possibilities to a version of your dream that might actually be do-able and right for your situation. I'm sorry, but I just don't believe that those folks that enthusiastically move their family of five into a 250 sq, feet house are happy a year down the road---if they even survive for a year! What are your priorities?  Money, freedom from responsibilities, just being able to enjoy some of the simpler things in life?  You can do it. Do it the way that is right for you, though.

The hubby and I have never been city folk, we like nature and we don't like the metro life. However, I won't kid you. We like our conveniences and are not interested in living miles away from necessities and indulgences.  We like our television, we like our Wi-Fi, we don't want to drive an hour to get a gallon of milk, we are old and want some type of medical care to be reachable. We live outside of the city (in both of our locations) but we don't live isolated.

When you've examined the pros and cons, you will discover a reasonable path to follow. Make a plan now. It might be as simple as "I'm going to start getting rid of a lot of stuff that I don't need" as a beginning. Any small action that will move you toward your goal is worthwhile. Get that destination of change in your mind and move persistently toward it. Move an inch at a time or leap, just move.

Have a dream, get realistic and make a plan. That's always worked for me.

A Simple Summer

The summer season, for the hubby and I, begins with our arrival at the Colorado cabin. It's still winter on the high Spanish Peaks, our view from the front porch. Yesterday evening the hail peppered the deck and the temperature this sunny morning was 41 degrees. Everything is so green and the purple sage is already blooming beautifully.

We have been escaping the Texas heat and coming to the little green cabin for over ten years now. I have

to say that it was probably the beginning of us realizing that we could live a much smaller and simpler life and be completely happy. The cabin is a little less than 1,000 square feet. It has everything we need, including a second "potty" and small guest bedroom. After staying here for 4 or 5 months at a time, it dawned on us that we never missed a bigger house or a busier life.

So, during the past few years, back at home in Texas, we have downsized from 5 acres and a nearly 3,000 sq. feet home---to a house in town that was about half the size---to a travel trailer and then this past year to our Tiny House in the rv campground on the bay of a large lake.

There are some obvious but great advantages to downsizing your life:

             FINANCES---Whether you are older and retired or younger and moving toward that day, you can live smaller.  If you aren't maintaining, paying taxes and all that is involved in owning a big house, you have much more of your funds for the things you enjoy. We are lucky to have two houses in beautiful places for cost less than many spend for one home.

             PEACE of MIND---Trust me, your grown children, grand-children and friends are much more independent of you than you might think.  If you don't have the big house where everything happens and everyone stays, you can still have your relationship with all of those you love. With cell phones, text, e-mails and all the easy communications these days, we stay in very close touch with our family and friends. They enjoy visiting us in our smaller houses. When we are near to our family, we all appreciate each other and treasure our times together.

Moving to a tiny house or living in a far away location, even part time, is not the right thing for everyone. You must search your own heart. There are multitudes of ways to make your life a little simpler and smaller.  If your mind is closed though, on this or any other change in your life, you are possibly missing some of the most special times of living.

Ever Changing Life

Living/kitchen area of our new Tiny House

In my many years on this earth, one of the big things I've learned is that life is always changing. That is an absolute.

Over the last five years or more, my interest and passion has been in the writing of eleven novels and in the prepper self sustaining philosophy. I loved writing the books in the apocalyptic dystopian genre and still am amazed that folks read them. I also have not weakened on my belief that we live in a dangerous and unpredictable world. Many events, both manmade and nature made could happen to our complicated world and I very much am of the mind that everyone should have some preparations for catastrophe.

While I haven't lost my interest in these two basic things, life does move along and if a person doesn't have the desire or ability to adapt to those changes, I personally think it is a very detrimental to our physical health. It is most certainly damaging to our mental strength and peace of mind to not be open to new things in our lives. If you are open, change and moving on to new endeavors is probably the single most revitalizing thing that can happen to you.

It's not that far from the prepping and I certainly just could not quit writing, so my new passion will be the subject of my ramblings for now.  That new interest is living smaller in this big world and simplifying my life. I will be writing about the downsizing that my hubby and I have accomplished over the last two years on this blog site. Hopefully, I will be able to share some of the good and bad and pass along some lessons learned to anyone that is interested in streamlining their life in this big busy world. Looking forward to new horizons.  JO