a very sleepy turtle

Not sure what the KGB did to be so exhausted. He has been sleeping all day..

Trying to Be Better

So I want to start off by saying that I am not a religious person in the conventional sort of way. I was born and raised catholic but I don't practice. I believe in the universe and a higher power but above all else I believe in humanity. I believe that we need to be good to each other. My inspiration for this...you may think that I am crazy but it's the Duggers from 19 kids and counting. 

I am not looking to spark some kind of mad conversation about religion or the show being fake or whatever other negative things some might say. I want to talk about how some of the show's values has taught me to be a better person. I never in my wildest dreams thought a reality tv show would do that. 

I know that the Duggars are baptist and I respect their convictions. I see that they have have fellowship with other like minded families and I think "I wish I could find other like minded folks where religion isn't center stage - kindness is ".

So here are some of the highlights that I have taken away from this show. These are ideas I now treat very seriously in my life:

1. Appreciate, appreciate, appreciate. 

              

2. Slow to anger

3. Listen. No, really listen. 

4. Buy used and save the difference

Along the way I have added a few more to that list, not from the show but from various other places:

5. Live with less / repurpose what you already have

6. Find the lesson in every setback / disappointment / struggle. That moment is trying to teach you something

7. Make time to do nothing. (this is my favorite and most important rule) 

What are some of your words to live by ?

Is home just a place to put our stuff?

I just got my daily newsletter from LifeEdited.com. I love this site because CJ and I are always taking about pairing down and living with less. When you move as often as we do, you don't look forward to packing hundreds of boxes - most of which you have no idea what is in them.

Well I wanted to pass on this particular newsletter so here is it. I hope you enjoy it. Also be sure to stop by http://www.lifeedited.com/ and sign up for the newsletter. Lots of great ideas for living a life-less-cluttered.

In this lecture, philosopher George Carlin expounds on such topics as the meaning of life (A: finding a place to put our stuff) and the nature of residential architecture (A: creating a place to put our stuff). He even makes the bold declaration that if we didn't have so much [expletive] stuff, we wouldn't need homes. We "could just walk around all the time." In this it's-funny-because-it's-true riff, Carlin highlights how our lives are often centered around the stuff we accumulate, begging the question: what would your life look like without so much stuff? If you had less stuff, could you have a smaller, more manageable, less expensive home? With that less expensive home, might you be able to choose the type of work you want rather than the type needed to afford the house and all its stuff? Might you have more savings and free time? As Tyler Durden from "Fight Club" puts it, might the stuff that you own, own you? - T.