"Happiness resides not in possessions and not in gold; the feeling of happiness dwells in the soul." ~Democritus~

So, I'm updating today and here is my next quote:

"Happiness resides not in possessions and not in gold; the feeling of happiness dwells in the soul." ~Democritus~


How easy is it to forget this and dwell on the things we want but can't have (right now) for whatever reason. This is a problem that really steels our happiness. We've all heard the saying "You can't take it with you" but it usually does not faze us in our day to day lives. And a lot of times we take it as a license to spend and what we do have now since we can't take the money with us. We all know how wanting what we don't have can make us unhappy.

But this quote can be applied another way. How bout having too much stuff!!! I know suffer from that. My house is so small and so full of (lets be honest) garbage that I don't dare let anyone come over. We have way more then we need, we definitely don't use it all, and the chances we will ever use most of it is unlikely, especially using it enough to make it worth while hanging onto all that time instead of just replacing it if the need arises. I have decided I want to take a more minimalist approach to my possessions, definitely not in extreme way - I still like having things, but why have stuff to just sit in closets, the garage, the basement and not even get used once a year? Seasonal stuff is understandable, holiday decorations, summer stuff, winter stuff etc. But looking around my dining room, it's mostly garbage. So I just need to get rid of it. If it hasn't found a home by now (we moved over a year ago) it's obviously not something I use or love.

All this stuff definitely steels my happiness. But I'm working on it and making babystep progress so lets not dwell on that. I won't have all this chaos (Can't Have Anyone Over Syndrome) forever.

We all know this, it's hard to stop wanting things we don't have (I wan't an 80 or 160gb Ipod) and that has a place in our lives because it causes us to work for what we want. But we don't need to spend everyday thinking about it. If we spend more time thinking about what makes us happy, not what will make us happy. It would help a lot.

How many of you have more stuff then you need, but it seems like nothing you want? It's so easy to accumulate "stuff", and so hard to get rid of it because it's so easy to let it stay.

I love my small house, and can envision it with a lot less stuff, and a lot more fun on the inside.

I guess this blog was sort of all over. But we need to look inside us for happiness, not outside us.

I love you and pray for you!
MOTH3R