The Zen of Survival
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Voluntary simplicity may be the best way to survive difficult times
However much you want to be able to have that perfect wedding, give your kids the best vacation ever, treat your nearest and dearest to a slap-up meal, now may not be the time to do it. With the uncertainty in the financial markets, higher payments on mortgages, food and gas, all those credit card bills piling up, spending a lot of money on having a good time doesn’t seem sensible.
Making ends meet
You’ve probably been doing what lots of people do. You’ve used your credit cards to keep your standard of living at the level you’ve become used to. Maybe you’ve taken out a second mortgage to help pay for a new car. You want to be able to keep doing all the things you’ve been doing over the last few years.
Where does all your money go?
No spare cash? If your savings are disappearing and the future seems less assured, perhaps ‘keeping up with the Joneses’ isn’t something you should still be doing. Are your job prospects uncertain? Can you be sure you will be able to pay for your children’s college tuition, and help them get started on their adult life?
Do you know how much of your cash goes towards displaying to those around you that you’re doing well? Perhaps you should stop spending on some of those things that you partake in mainly as a way of showing the rest of the world that you’re okay.
Think about whether you really need to belong to the expensive gym, when you could join the YMCA. It would be much better to spend your money wisely on things that are useful and needed. Do you have an expensive car that costs too much in payments and is a gas guzzler? Do you eat out a lot? It’s convenient, but expensive, and there are many ways to throw a quick meal together without spending ages in the kitchen. What about that expensive vacation? Travel costs the earth. There are lots of places nearer to home that you could get to with little expense. You could have fun exploring; getting to know the towns, the countryside, parks and recreation opportunities nearer to where you live.
Simplicity offers ideas to sustain a quality life at a lower cost
If there are others in your neighborhood who are also trying to cut back, perhaps you could get together — taking turns organizing trips that children and parents will enjoy. Some educational, some just for fun. We all need something to look forward to and sometimes other people come up with ideas you may not have thought of.
You never know, there may be people living in your neighborhood who are lonely, some who don’t know anyone well. They may be specially pleased to be included in activities which help them to get to meet others and get to know the area better.
Forget perfect
Suppose that sometimes, instead of planning the perfect event, you just let people get together and have a good time. No one wants the expense of a special event. They won’t want to have to go out and buy a new outfit, meet in a ‘dressy’ hotel or eat food they could well prepare themselves.
How about going back to simple, do-it-yourself events? That could be a time when everyone contributes and the only thing you, as the planner have to do, is to organize who does what, where and when.
For this to work well, you have to be willing to compromise, to take other’s ideas and use them creatively, to be a referee when arguments arise about who gets to make the special dish, and to encourage even the most reticent amongst the group to contribute something to the occasion. It can be enlightening, new skills are discovered, and even though you can have mishaps and things may go wrong, it will be good to plan events and activities — and show everyone that you can still manage to enjoy life in the uncertainties of today.
Technorati Tags: simplicity, the simple life, surviving difficult times, being responsible for your problems, enjoyment from simplifying your life, choosing how to spend your money, how to ensure a happy life
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