Small Steps To Less

I saw a quote this morning.

“Spend more on doing and less on having.”

Y’all, I think we’re all guilty of this! I know that this past half year of our military transition has been absolutely awful as far as finances go and all I’ve dwelled on is what I can’t have.

But this quote got me thinking and quite honestly it got me thinking a lot. I have this flaw, I believe most all of us have it, that I want to fill my home with things. Some of it is practical — a new dining room table, shelves, end tables — and some of it is pure want. The thing is, why do I want all of these things?

I’d say I’m a pretty big clean freak when it comes down to it. With more “things” there’s more cleaning. More dishes equals more to wash. More clothes equals more laundry. I mean who even likes doing laundry? More furniture equals more surfaces to clean. I don’t want to spend my days in this rut of scrubbing and putting away and repeat.

So what happens when we let go of this desire to want more? For me, I believe that having less cleaning and organizing will allow me to:

1. Free my mind of all those open tabs in my browser. I feel my mind is going a mile a minute and trying to raise my daughter, clean the house, run my at-home bakery business, take care of our two pets, plan and shop for dinners, pay bills, manage finances — it all gets to be too much! If the house is in order, if I only have to worry about cleaning up after dinner, I’m really in a good place to plan out the rest of those tabs and close them one by one.
2. Have more time for growing. I think we all come up with New Years Resolutions even if we say we don’t. Isn’t there always something you’d like to improve? What better time than a new year to do it. Mine this year is to grow in knowledge. I want to put down the fiction, read more historical, political, educational works. I want to understand more, expand my vocabulary, and be a good and knowledgable American citizen. I’d also like to complete a degree, whatever it may be and wherever I may start. So much of myself is in this house I have forgotten my own goals and desires.
3. Have a social life. Now as a parent I know this can be tedious. We fall into our family unit’s routines so easily: dinner, bath, bedtime stories, teeth brushing, playing, bed, clean up dinner, feed the animals. By the time it’s all said and done, it’s 8:30pm and you’re exhausted. Having the ability to worry less about our home in general means I can go to that mom group or I can meet up with a friend for yoga. A break from the everyday lull.
4. Plan for vacations — big or small. Here’s the thing: We love Disney. We go every year. We went when our daughter was 6 weeks old! Having her didn’t stop us. But this year, unfortunately, we had to give up our vacation because of our transition out of the service. It was a tough 8 months but we are finally over the hump and are on our way toward a better future. Part of having less means I can start putting away for adventures. They can be as small as staying overnight somewhere to go hiking, camping, shopping, tubing — what have you. I believe these investments in trying new foods, seeing new places, enjoying time here on Earth right now are so so important to mental health. We live in a demanding and sometimes cruel world. It’s important that we break away and enjoy company of our family outside of routine. There’s so much to see in this world.
5. Enjoy good food. I am most certainly a foodie! Though I am not fond of meat, I enjoy a variety of foods. I find myself stressed a lot with planning dinners that I’ve stopped enjoying food! I’d rather cook up some plain rice or pour a bowl of cereal than make these beautiful dishes I used to. Less stress equals happier belly and healthier self.

Overall, it is my goal to purge our home of “things.” I want to have less, want less, see more. I want to raise our daughter and any future Nelsons the exact same way. We won’t be taking any of our things with us when we leave this place, but while we were here I want to say I did everything I wanted to.