If one of your New Year’s resolutions was to make the major undertaking of finding a better lifestyle, you may now be asking yourself why a Simple Life is a great choice. Why do you want to travel this road? Why do you want to put effort into this lifestyle change?
We are midway through the year, and by this time, just like being on a diet, you may either be at a plateau, or you may feel as if it’s just too much and your old lifestyle has been encroaching more and more. The old lifestyle also just seems easier – more of a familiarity than anything else.
At some point, though, you were certain the Simple Life was the lifestyle you wanted. There was eagerness, excitement, maybe even a sense of relief. The idea of slowing down and focusing more on priorities was a worthy goal.
If this is where you are standing right now, maybe you just need a ‘simple’ reminder of the reasons you wanted to shift to a Simple Life in the first place. This lifestyle is well worth any effort it takes to learn, grow and live. Maybe It’s time to ask yourself why a Simple Life is a great choice for you to make.
As for the answer to why a Simple Life is a great choice, each individual will have their own answer to this question – even within the same family. And having the answer is a perfect way to help you stay on track. Having this information is what will help you stick with it, even when you are ready to give up. ‘Why’ gives you a foundation for your purpose for the journey. This isn’t always an easy road to travel, but I firmly believe it is the smartest and best way to live.
Listen in to find out if a Simple Life is for YOU!
Reasons Why a Simple Life is a Great Choice
“Simplicity, simplicity, simplicity! I say, let your affairs be as two or three, and not a hundred or a thousand; instead of a million-count half a dozen, and keep your accounts on your thumb nail.”
– Henry David Thoreau, Walden
Most of us already know the answer to ‘what’. These are all the reasons why a Simple Life is a great choice:
- Slowing down
- Spending more time with family and friends
- Focusing on Priorities
- Gaining control of your finances
- Refocusing on dream and passions
We are also learning the ‘how’ through reading posts, listening to podcasts, research and finding mentors. But in order to move forward, all the what and how answers won’t help if we can’t remember the why.
The list of what’s can also be answers to why a Simple Life is a great choice. But the following can also be a great answer to the question:
Scheduling Concerns
How many different things do you have on your schedule? Of that number, how many of them are truly necessary? And how many of them simply produce a level of busyness?
When you think of why a Simple Life is a great choice, you realize that you are the one in control of your calendar. It is you who sets the priorities in your life. And only you can decide what is important and what isn’t.
By clearing our calendar of things that are no longer important or necessary, we are able to free up more time for those things that are. These are things such as faith, family, and pursuing our dreams and passions.
Food Concerns
From recalls to pandemics to food shortages to rising prices, food is a big concern. One concern may be how to feed our family without breaking the bank. There are also concerns about the levels of chemicals in the food we purchase.
Learning to grow our own food can not only answer why a Simple Life is a great choice, but it can also alleviate many of those concerns. You may not be able to grow everything you eat. But for everything you do produce, those concerns can ease. And for what you cannot grow, shop at farmer’s markets, or learn the art of bartering.
If you only have a window ledge, learn to grow herbs. Use them fresh or create your own spice mixes. If all you have is a place large enough for a few containers, learn the art of Theme Gardening. And no matter what size garden you grow, you can learn to can and preserve the food you grow.
Why a Simple Life is a Great Choice for your Kids
A question parents often ask is whether our lifestyle is healthy for our children. Do they know what they need in order to live a healthy, well-balanced life? Is all that technology really good for them?
One of the best things you can do to prepare your children for life. One way is to teach them why a Simple Life is a great choice.
By teaching your children the importance of good work ethics, it helps to prepare them. How to sew, cook, clean, and depend less on technology is a great way to start. It will help your children tackle most any obstacle the world can throw at them.
By teaching them fiscal responsibility, they will better be able to manage their money and be less inclined to live with stress-inducing debt. Teaching them how to grow their own food gives them the ability to feed their family.
Showing by example of slowing down and enjoying life in simple ways fills them with a contentment for life. And having them help their neighbors and within the community without expectations of payment gives them a sense of social skills. All of these things provide them with an overall sense of joy in helping others.
Financial Concerns
Finances are usually in the top 3 concerns most people have. We are often asking ourselves how on earth are we going to pay all these bills? Is there enough to pay the mortgage, keep the lights on and still pay the credit card minimum?
There are a few ways you can work on eliminating these concerns through gaining control of your finances and learning to live more frugally. And in the process of reducing your debt, you also reduce the stress. Living with less stress is a good reason why a Simple Life is a great choice for you and your family.
As for your finances, a Simple Life is based on frugal living. Learn the difference between need and want. Learn how to reduce your debt and purchase only what is needed. It may take a few years to reduce or remove your debt, but with each loan or credit card that gets paid in full, you will be able to feel that stress begin to roll off your shoulders.
From Consumer to Producer
By shifting from a consumer to a production-based lifestyle you can encourage your family to get involved and spend more time with them in the process. Teach them (or learn together):
- How to grow your own food
- Take care of small livestock
- Create handmade items
- Exercise their imaginations with challenges on how to reuse and re-purpose
- Encourage each family member to keep a journal.
One good reason why a Simple Life is a great choice is it limits the need for technology. If you’re busy working with your hands, or spending time with your family, there isn’t as much time to spend on computers or video games.
Here’s a Thought on Education
Living a Simple Life is a great way to underscore what they are learning in school. It requires math, science, reading, writing, and problem solving, just to name a few. It also will help all of you become more active, which in turn can help you to be healthier.
Gift Giving
Limit the wants to fewer gifts on birthdays or for Christmas and put a price cap on those. As for other gifts, learn a craft and make as many as you can. Just giving each other the ‘gift’ of time. These are great ways to give the gift of time:
- Playing games
- Taking a walk
- Teaching your children life skills such as cooking, sewing, gardening, or making their own bubble bath
- Have a meaningful conversation
- Reading a book together
- Have family dinner at the table
Every step you take towards a Simple Life will bring you closer to understanding the simplicity in Henry David Thoreau’s quote. You can eliminate much of the worries that weigh down your heart.
You can choose where your focus is by eliminating the unnecessary busyness and concentrating on the important priorities – like family, contentment, and joy. And you may end up being able to list all of your concerns on your thumbnail.
Maybe…
Answering why a Simple Life is a great choice and learning to adapt won’t resolve all of life’s worries. It probably won’t make you monetarily wealthy. But it just might give you confidence in knowing you are choosing a better life for you and your family.
From a food standpoint, it will be healthier. From a financial standpoint, you will be comforted in knowing you can pay your bills and still have some left over for fun.
From a family standpoint, you can spend better quality time with them. And from a personal perspective, you will have more time to realize the dreams and follow the passions that have long lain dormant in your heart.
Make it your ambition to live a quiet life: to mind your own business and work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders, and you will not be dependent on anyone. – I Thessalonians 4:11
Why a Simple Life is a Great Choice
I answered the Why? question at the very beginning of my journey. Why do I want to live a Simple Life? It’s simple. First and foremost, this Bible verse spoke to me deep in my heart.
I loved the idea of it. I knew it was well worth the effort it would take to do it. And I was weary of the consumer mentality, where ‘more’ was defined as ‘better’ or ‘successful’. The food we ate tasted like cardboard.
I prefer spending my time outside rather than in the confines of a vehicle going from one store to another. My creative spirit needs to be fed. What better food and nourishment can creativity offer than challenging myself daily to live as simply as possible?
Once I had my answer to why a Simple Life is a great choice, I realized that the sky was the limit. I jumped off the busyness cliff and began working my way toward doing more for myself.
It was scary to change my life so drastically. The funny thing is? I have finally figured out what true contentment really is.
And that’s no maybe…
