Happiness Is Simple

Yesterday, we were back home from our extra long weekend, spent at my happy spot in Maine.  4 days spent camping, spending most of our time outside, getting in tons of family time, relaxing, & having no expectations about my days…….letting it unfold naturally.
Driving home (it’s a 3 hr ride one way) I had plenty of time thinking about the last days.  As I was thinking about it all, I noticed my thoughts kept gravitating around the fact that we had so much fun doing simple things like riding bikes, going for walks, talking around the campfire, playing cards, listening to the band, going on firetruck rides, participated in an ice cream eating contest, & trying winning at candy bar bingo to name a few.  When we weren’t doing stuff, my little ones played hard enjoying the outdoors, & doing it all with a few simple toys like their bikes, a few coloring things, & cards.  The rest of the time they played on the playground or with rocks, pine cones, & dirt.  I don’t think any of us has been happier than we were this past weekend, which shows me 2 things:

1. Simple living isn’t just a fad……..it’s a way of life for us all
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2. Happiness is simple, we just complicate it.

Not once during our whole trip did any of us miss anything that was left behind, other than our reptiles of course.  My life wasn’t miserable or unsatisfying because I didn’t have a 100 different kitchen gadgets or have 100 different TV channels to watch.  Instead having a lot less and  simplifying what we took (only taking the basics) we were content with having what we had, which brought us more happiness.  We were able to focus on things that mattered to us, rather than the distractions that over take our lives.  Even though I’ve been simplifying things at home, I realized I haven’t gotten as far as I would like to.  Yes, I did start but somewhere over the last few months, I’ve been slacking but taking a step back I was able to see this more clearly.

Simple living isn’t something that happens over night, it’s not a destination.  It’s a mantra, a motto, a belief……a statement that motivates you to strive to continuously reevaluate your life and put your focus towards what’s important.  Having this mini break from our every day not only gave me clarity, it showed me this is exactly where I should be & how I want to continue living.  If anything, it gave me more of an incentive.

Happiness is simple, yet so many people live without it.  If you stripped everything down, what would it take to really make you happy?

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Sharing With:
The Lady Prefers To Save, A Life In The Balance, Create With Joy, Nancy On The Home Front