let's do this

This morning, I was inspired. It doesn't take a ton for me, I'm liable to get inspired by nearly anything. But today, I was pleasantly surprised to be inspired to LIVE. It's a lesson I think a lot of people struggle with: learning to thrive versus SURVIVE.

Living Simply isn't about denying yourself happiness. It is about living more simply so that happiness is easier to come by. But if your choice of lifestyle makes you unhappy, YOU have to DO something about it. In a lot of ways, that's why I started the blog. I'm no expert. I don't know how to budget my money well, or how to cook so that you are eating healthier, or where the best, cheapest, freshest food is to be bought.

The blog is an ideal. Something I have fashioned for myself as I try to LEARN how to live the life I want to have- a life of simple happiness, filled with friends and loved ones, and not so cluttered!

This is how I am saying, very quietly, but with growing confidence: Let's Do This. Let's live better. Better for me, better for my loved ones, better for the planet. Let's manage our money, and our waistline. Let's live freed by less possessions. Let's have dreams and fulfill them. Let's find a way to live the life we were destined for without fear. Let's refuse to settle into a day job. Let's find a niche that feels EXACTLY right. Let's live in a place where we are surrounded by people who nurture and encourage us, who believe in our abilities, and are supportive when we stumble. Let's find a way to push through the disappointment, the sorrow, and the mourning, into a day full of sunlight and love, a life that we were intended to live out.

I don't want to hunker down. I don't want to die in my sleep, safe, cocooned away from the world. I want to live the mess out of life. When I die, I hope I have wrung every drop of sweat, every tear, every smile and peal of laughter out of me. Nothing left to give to the world. I don't want to live safely.

But balance is the keeper of all things. My life motto is this:

All things in moderation, except Love.

And I really believe that's how we should live. The most simple precept there is. All things, be it possessions, worries, money, food, you name it, in moderation. Enjoy tastes of all things, but not to excess. Don't hurt yourself over it. You don't need 400 pairs of shoes, or a quart of ice cream every night. Except love. That's the one thing you never have to much of. And, as a much more famous person than I once wrote, really... "All you need is Love"