Voluntary Simplicity

What does Voluntary Simplicity mean? For each person it means something different.

For some it means more time so they simplify their lives.

For some it means less things being bought so they can learn to be happy with what they have already.

For some it means giving back to the worlds resources at least as much as you take.

There are as many definitions as there are people. To us it has meant many things. More of the really good things in life like family, friends, and time. And less of the things that mean nothing consumer goods and things that just do not make us happy.

We think of it in terms of are we making a living? or are we making a dying? We realized killing ourselves for consumer goods was making a dying. Teaching ourselves to save and then invest was making a living.

We didn't have a life before we decided to jump off the consumerism merry-go-round. We were scheduled to the hilt and everyone was busy and unhappy. As we gradually started to remove things from our lives and gave ourselves more time we got happier and happier.

It was a shock at times as we were used to filling up every moment. As we learned more on the subject we really blossomed into people who were so happy with our decisions.

Our advice when contemplating voluntary simplicity is to get personal with yourself. What does it mean to you? If you never had to work again what would you do? What would it feel like to be able to do that one thing you have never had time for but love to do!

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