What would New Years Day be without a resolution and a blog? As cliche as it may seem to set a goal for the next calender year, I believe any time is a great time to make positive change in your life. And if you need a holiday to get you motivated, than so be it. During this season of my life things have been getting a little cluttered and out of sorts, therefore I am resolving to unpack the last of my boxes sitting in the garage since moving in July, take a close look at the stuff in my house to decide what I actually need and get rid of all the extra items just taking up space. My diet is also undergoing a few modifications and I am excited to embark on a new food foray. Both resolutions have an underlying theme that I want to share with you today; finding fulfillment in the intangible vice the tangible and learning to live more with less.
Fortunately for me I learned organization and cleanliness at a very early age. I can still remember my Dad strictly enforcing the bed made, room cleaned and chores complete rule both before and after school. Growing up in a military family also helped to reinforce a general state of order and structure. So needless to say, my living standards have always been quite neat and tidy. Since John was born I have learned to loosen my grip on the idea of having a continual clean house and now enjoy a bit of organized chaos. Having a child has also allowed me to accumulate a great deal of baby paraphernalia. And that coupled with a big move back from Hawaii into a house half the size of my previous one, means it's time to downsize. We have given away many larger furniture items already, but the smaller, more meaningful trinkets and keepsakes have yet to be evaluated for worth and retain-ability. I also amassed a huge amount of shoes and clothes over the last 6 years having fluctuated in weight by nearly 30 pounds, having a baby, nursing that baby for 20 months and also moving from a very temperate climate to a normal one with cold winters. Spring cleaning is coming early this year!
Why do we let ourselves gather so much stuff anyways? Did you really develop an emotional attachment to that hat you picked up on your vacation last year? Or the decorative set of coffee cups that just collect dust above the stove? Here are my theories on why most people have an inner-clutter bug lying dormant in their brain:
-Social status
-Desire to live in abundance
-Just in case-itis
-Sense of obligation
-Don't want to waste
-Can't let it go
-Organizational ignorance
When your living/working space is de-cluttered your environment becomes functional, peaceful and enjoyable. Not to mention how liberating it is to be mobile and versatile. Ask yourself: do I really need it, do I really use it, when was the last time I used it, when do I plan to use it, can I borrow/rent it instead of owning, what's the worst that can happen if I get rid of it?
Now, how do we live more with less when it comes to food? Plant a garden! Imagine if you forced yourself to eat only what you could grow. Likely to starve, we are prisoners of the grocery store because of an inability to live self-sufficiently. But what if we could find a happy medium? What if you planted that garden and harvested 75% of the food you and your family consumed? We would not only be healthier for having labored in the yard, but the quality and freshness of our food would be substantially better than that of what we currently pay for at the market. Learning when to plant, how to grow and which produce to harvest during each season is also a very educational endeavor to enjoy. If you have children planting and caring for a garden can teach them some of the most important lessons of life; work ethic, patience, responsibility, commitment, protecting the environment, quality time with family and a love for the great outdoors.
I also want to share some of my thoughts on using food to fill a void in your life. We are all guilty of having turned to food for pleasure and fulfillment. Whether our weakness is sweets, caffeinated beverages or alcohol there is an epidemic running rampant in our society to numb the pain of our wounds from a life lived in emptiness. Purpose and worth can be hard to find nowadays and even harder to realize. Money is thought to buy happiness and drives many of us to continue filling our house and refrigerator with more than just the essentials. I believe there is a remarkable correlation between the increase of disease/illness/cancer and the amount of Americans swimming in financial debt. This is just my theory, but I really think that our culture has an unquenchable thirst for monetary gain and tangible pleasure which has led to a perpetual search for fulfillment through food, drink and material things. It's no wonder our country has seen such an increase in the occurrence of obesity, heart disease, cancer and indebtedness. Are we buying and eating food that is essential and healthy for our bodies to function or are we consuming foods that we think make us feel good? Do you eat for energy and when you're hungry or do you eat because of boredom and an addition to unhealthy food. In case you hadn't heard, your body can become addicted to sugar. Try to count the grams of sugar you consume in one day, just try it tomorrow. I'm willing to bet it's more than 30 which is a relatively safe amount to eat each day.
Enclosing, I wanted to share a quote from Ann Voskamp's One Thousand Gifts.
We are hungry. We eat. We are filled... and emptied. And still we look at the fruit and see only the material means to fill our emptiness. We don't see the material world for what it is meant to be: as the means to communicate with God.
Christian, Muslim, Jew, friend: there is a God. He created you along with everything else in the world and knows exactly what makes you happy. If something is broken, take it to the maker and ask Him how to fix it.
Oh and in case you're interested in my new diet, take a look at this website for details: www.knowthecause.com
Happy New Year!
