Simple Living: It All Stays Here

Have you ever thought about what will happen to all of your stuff someday?

I have! And in fact, that is why I was embarrassed, ashamed, and went on a crazy decluttering purge a few years ago.

When I consider a lifestyle of simple living, I can’t help but talk about how my faith effects everything I do – especially how I live. I find that my Christian roots and beliefs only lead me to a more simplified life. Maybe you come from a completely different background and belief system. How you live your life though, falls back to those core values – what you truly believe in.

The values taught through the Bible, are guiding principles towards simple living. In fact, when I read Psalm 49:16-17, I think about how so much of our world is heading in the wrong direction. It says:

Do not be overawed when a man grows rich, when the splendor of his house increases; for he will take nothing with him when he dies, his splendor will not descend with him.

Simple living definition, right?

I too easily get “overawed”. I will drive by a neighborhood (I can think of one in particular over 1 hour away), that whenever we drive by it, I just gawk. I maybe even dream a little too much. I look at those houses and think hmmm…will my “house” ever increase? Then reality hits.

That is NOT the lifestyle I truly want. Yes, there is something to be said about owning things – the feeling accomplishment, maybe even a little pride, and having some self-worth. But that is just it – that self-worth is being tied up into things that do not last. It is not easy to say goodbye to possessions at times. A few years ago, we had to shut the door and rent out our first home we bought and move in with my in-laws. It wasn’t moving in with my in-laws that was hard (in fact it was a very blessed experience) – it was saying goodbye to something we put a lot of sweat and tears (literally) into. Really though, now looking at that house, it now is becoming just a house. The memories will always last, but it is just a house. (It took me a long time to learn that lesson!)

I think about those who used to have to fill their wagons of all of their stuff and have to cart it to another part of the country. Think Little House On The Prairie! I think about that picture above and how we all have “wagons” – how full will we fill them?

I won’t be taking that house with me when I die. As my husband kindly reminds me “you can’t tow a uhaul behind a hearse”. I am sure you have heard that saying before, but do we let that saying call us to action? I am NOT saying we have to go and sell all of our possessions (unless that is what you feel called to do). But we also are not to spend a lifetime, obtaining all of these things, when eventually one day they will all be gone. We will leave them all behind; for someone else to have to go through.

Simple living isn’t just about DIYing, cleaning 24/7 and having an immaculate home, or being Martha Stewart. It’s about SIMPLE living. What does that look like for you? Are you easily overawed at the things of this world? At your neighbor’s possessions? Remember, they too will have to leave behind everything they spent a lifetime accumulating.

This is a lesson I am constantly working on, but want to challenge myself with:

DON’T BE OVERAWED. IT ALL STAYS HERE.